


Dragon, Trench Coat, Must be a Kaiba

by Souless_Robot



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga), Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Accidental (?) Child Acquisition, Adoption, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chazz needs a hug, Duel Spirits, Duelling, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light and Darkness Dragon, POV Kaiba Seto, Seto Kaiba tries dadding, but not too slow, slow burn adoption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24903418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Souless_Robot/pseuds/Souless_Robot
Summary: It’d only been a week and Mokuba had already corrupted Chazz. His little brother’s manipulative conniving mind had no lines it wouldn’t cross, which apparently included Kaiba’s carefully established sense of respect and boundaries with his resident office guest.Mokuba came into his office earlier this week, slapped his hand on the desk with a bang, and said, “You’ve been letting him call you Mister Kaiba for six months Seto! Six months! You’re unbelievable!”Kaiba scoffed, he texted Mutou sometimes, mostly to schedule rematches and test new deck strategies, but still, “I didn’t tell him to call me anything. He chose to. It’s fitting.” With that Kaiba went back to his emails and watched Mokuba out of the corner of his eye.Mokuba gave him a searching look and then blinked slowly, “You think it’s cute.”Kaiba stopped typing and looked up bewildered as his icy blue eyes met Mokuba’s grey. Mokuba smirked, “You do! Oh, my god I think I need to sit down.”Or Seto Kaiba takes a young Chazz Princeton under his wing and is perhaps more ready for fatherhood than anyone could have expected.
Relationships: Alexis Rhodes & Chazz Princeton, Chazz Princeton & Kaiba Mokuba, Chazz Princeton & Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Mokuba & Kaiba Seto, Manjoume Jun | Chazz Princeton & Tenjouin Fubuki | Atticus Rhodes
Comments: 68
Kudos: 135





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don't know how this story happened but here we go again with a WIP! I can proudly say I have four chapters already qued up so I'll be updating one chapter a week for at least the next month. Kudos, comments, and constructive criticism are all welcomed here, prepare for fluff and angst! Strap in!

Seto Kaiba was bored. This was a rare occurrence since his graduation as Kaiba Corp found a way of keeping him constantly busy. Sadly, social gatherings and networking events were still the bane of his existence and they were still as dull as he remembered. He would never admit it to Yugi and his groupies but the amount of bootlicking and posturing that happened at these events had him dreaming of the days when the worst he had to put up with was the dweebs. At least Wheeler was fun to rile up. Here, everyone was stiff and formal as they mingled around with expensive liquor and even more expensive suits. 

It was a business meet and greet, something the mayor of Domino had arranged to ‘build up the economic prospects for their growing city’ or some other bullshit. As much as Kaiba hated coming to these it was necessary for his company’s reputation. Besides, it was as good an excuse as any to gauge the men that would no doubt be coming after his company now or the future. For the most part, Kaiba would find a corner to sit in and sip scotch while he watched the political games play out, occasionally someone from the crowd would muster up the courage to talk to him and Kaiba would grit his teeth and make small talk.

It wasn’t the pandering party goers that caught his eye though. No. Out on the edge of the floor was a small figure that couldn’t have looked more out of place.

The boy was in a tuxedo and had spiky black hair that looked like someone had viciously taken hair gel and a comb to with little effect. He had dark grey eyes. He reminded Kaiba of Mokuba when he was younger. 

Who let a six-year-old attend? There were no other children around in the sea of suits and there was clearly no one watching him. Kaiba felt his hackles rise. He remembered being sixteen and the leering looks some of the men would give him, who in their right mind would bring a child into this pit of vipers. Mokuba was sixteen and Kaiba still wouldn’t bring him to this type of event if he could help it. 

The boy had something in his hand and was chattering animatedly at it while no one even seemed aware of his presence. Kaiba stood, set his drink down, and swept across the room. 

The kid didn’t even seem to be aware someone was now standing next to him. He was off in his own world, playing with whatever was in his hands. Kaiba glanced down and saw the familiar brown and black spiral of Duel Monster cards. 

“Stop being mean to Ojama Yellow, Light, it’s not his fault he’s such a weak and useless monster. That’s why I have you in my deck.” 

The boy was talking to his cards. Well, he looked about six, and kids did weird things, there were stranger things out there than talking to duel monster cards. Something unsettled Kaiba though, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it but something at the edge of his instincts was prickling. He waved the feeling away. There were more pressing matters like where this kid’s parents were. Besides, issues involving duel monster cards and ‘magic’ seemed to work themselves out or at least make themselves apparent if given enough time. 

“Hello, who are you here with?” 

The boy’s turned around and his eyes widened like saucers, “You’re Seto Kaiba! Your deck is the best!” 

Kaiba blinked, that was not a reaction he was prepared for. He’d been out of the professional dueling leagues for ten years, most kids only knew him as the host of tournaments, they certainly didn’t ask about his deck. Interesting. 

“What’s your name?” 

The boy blushed, embarrassed about his outburst as he bowed his head and held his hand out politely, “I’m Chazz Princeton. It’s nice to meet you, sir.” 

Kaiba knelt down and gently shook his hand. Chazz beamed at him. 

“So, where are your parents?” 

The boy froze up and his smile vanished, “They’re around, so are my brothers.” Chazz said vaguely, refusing to meet his eyes. Princeton, that name sounded familiar but Kaiba couldn’t quite place it at the moment. 

“So what cards do you have there?” The boy visibly lit up again and was immediately shoving two cards in his face. 

“This is Ojama Yellow. He’s not very strong but he’s pretty friendly. And this is Light and Darkness Dragon!” Chazz said with a flourish as he flipped the card over. It was a decent card, impressive attack and defense, and pretty rare too. Kaiba nodded along, as Chazz lowered his voice to a conspiratory whisper as he looked around, “But I call him Light. He’s my friend. He likes to pick on Yellow though, ” 

“Does he now?” Kaiba said, amused, remembering that Mokuba had imaginary friends when he was younger too. 

“Yeah, but it’s mostly for fun. He’s never really mean, not like my brothers.” 

Kaiba processed that bit of information, after all, it wasn’t unusual for siblings to not get along. He knew that in most circles Mokuba and him were the odd ones out for their close relationship. Still, if the boy had brothers, and he had mentioned they were here, there ought to be someone he could shuffle the boy off to. His eyes began scanning the crowd looking for anyone who resembled Chazz. 

“Mister Kaiba do you have your Blue Eyes? Light really wants to meet her!” The boy was tugging on his sleeve excitedly again demanding attention, Kaiba resisted the urge to shake the child off. 

He didn’t want to make a scene, and who knew what onlookers were thinking about him talking to a child without his parents present. He had no doubts that one of the vipers was watching and whispering even if they were being discreet. Still, he didn’t trust any of these wealthy ingrates as far as he could throw them and he wasn’t about to leave Chazz alone without supervision. He cast one more look at the crowd but amidst their small talk and cocktails, no one was looking their way.

Kaiba stood up from his crouch, “Have you eaten Chazz?” 

The boy scowled and shook his head, “I can’t see over the table to get the things I like and they don’t have any apple juice.”

“Come on, I’m sure we can find you some apple juice and after I’ll show you Blue Eyes.”

Chazz was right, he really couldn’t see over the table the food was resting on. In fact, he could barely reach it. Kaiba sighed and reached over for a plate. He began scooping various things onto the plate with various input from Chazz. Chazz of course immediately asked for cake. Kaiba gave him a long look and deliberately scooped carrots onto the plate. Children were supposed to eat vegetables. 

When Kaiba was satisfied that all the food groups were more or less represented he handed Chazz the plate. The corner of his mouth twitched up when the kid made an outraged face at the carrots. Kaiba kept the slice of cake firmly in his hands. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Chazz trailing after him with a scowl. Kaiba approached the bar. 

“Sir, can I get you something?”

“Apple juice.” 

“Sir, this is a bar. We only have alcohol. We don’t have any-” Kaiba glowered at the bartender and cocked his head towards Chazz who was standing shyly behind him. 

The barkeeper did a double-take and his mouth snapped open. “Apple juice, of course. Yes, I’m sure we can find you something.” 

“Good.” Kaiba slammed a fifty dollar bill on the table and the man’s eyes widened, “And hurry up.” 

A few minutes later a glass of what looked and smelled like apple juice was slid over to Kaiba. He took it with one last glare and the threat of, “If this isn’t apple juice I’ll have your liquor license.” 

Kaiba settled down at one of the tables on the edge of the room. Chazz followed him like a puppy and sat down across from him popping his half-finished plate on the table. It took less than ten minutes for the kid to finish scarfing down the food, everything except the untouched carrots. He must have been hungry. 

“Can I see your Blue Eyes now?” Chazz said as he sat down his now finished glass of apple juice. 

Kaiba looked pointedly at his plate, “Finish the carrots.” 

Chazz stuck his chin out stubbornly and crossed his arms over his chest, “I don’t like carrots.” 

“And I don’t like just showing anyone my Blue Eyes. Finish the carrots.” 

The kid curled his lip up and Kaiba was certain Chazz was about to throw a tantrum. If he did Kaiba would leave. This wasn’t even his kid, he had no obligation to have to deal with a screaming, crying child. Maybe if the kid threw a big enough of a fit, then his parents would finally come out of hiding. 

Instead, Chazz reached down and began aggressively shoving carrots in his mouth as he chewed vigorously gulping down bite after bite. He had his eyes screwed shut like he was being tortured. 

Kaiba chuckled. What did it say about him that apparently he enjoyed playing the bully that forced children to eat their vegetables? 

“Done!” Chazz proclaimed as he shoved the offending plate away from him. Kaiba shoved the plate of cake he’d been guarding over and pulled his deck case out of his blazer pocket. 

He flipped open the snap top on the case and took his deck out. He instinctively reached in pulling out a Blue Eyes White Dragon. He felt the familiar faint tingle of electricity that accompanied his sixth sense when it came to Blue Eyes. He flipped the card over and laid it face up on the table. 

“Wow! She’s so pretty!” Chazz said, his eyes sparkled as he looked over the dragon. 

“How do you know Blue Eyes is female?” Most people didn’t, they saw a powerful dragon and automatically assumed it was male. Kaiba never had, even before he’d learned about reincarnations and Kisara, he’d always known Blue Eyes was female. 

“Light told me,” Chazz said, holding up his own dragon as he looked over Kaiba’s shoulder. Kaiba turned his head following the kid’s gaze and felt his eyebrows rise as the pale outline of Blue Eyes hovered over him. It wasn’t a hologram which meant it was the duel spirit. She’d never come out when he wasn’t dueling before. He looked back at Chazz who was still staring his mouth open like a fish. 

“You see her.” It was a statement nor a question, from the look of awe in the kid’s eyes he obviously saw her. “Is this the way you see your other cards too?” 

The boy nodded. Words seemed beyond him at the moment. Interesting. That was very interesting, not many duelists could see the spirits he could count on one hand those that could, and most of them had a connection to the millennium items or Ancient Egypt. What did it mean that an otherwise random boy could do it? Kaiba didn’t believe in coincidences, he would need to keep a close eye on Chazz Princeton, the last thing Kaiba wanted was another Levithan situation. 

“Chazz!” A sharp male voice called across the room. Chazz sat up straight at the voice and immediately stood looking around for someone. 

Kaiba took the moment of distraction for him to safely tuck his Blue Eyes back in with the rest of his deck and then into his pocket. He didn’t like to advertise that he kept some of the most expensive cards in the world on his person. 

“Chazz, it’s time to go.” 

Kaiba’s eyes looked around for the voice and came across two medium height men stepping through the crowd. The information clicked into place. Slade and Jagger of the Princeton Group. 

No wonder the name sounded familiar. Chazz’s brothers weren’t children at all. In fact, Kaiba would bet the older one was around his age. 

So, it hadn’t been an accident. They’d intentionally left a six-year-old unsupervised in a room of over a hundred strangers where anything could have happened. Kaiba felt his temper bubbling up. 

The Princetons came from a dynasty of wealthy elites and focused their company on a variety of business sectors. They had their hands in everything from medicine manufacturing to law and weapons. The arrogant bastards had even tried to put their nose in the Duel Monsters market but Kaiba had quickly put a stop to that. 

Looking between the three of them it was easy to see the resemblance. They all had the same colored eyes and hair, but where Chazz’s hair seemed to defy gravity and expectation his brothers’ were carefully manicured, not a hair out of place or so much as a scuff on their shoes.

Chazz chewed his lower lip and quickly hid his cards behind his back and out of view. 

“Now, Chazz!” snapped Slade, a look of irritation flashing over his face as the boy literally jumped and quickly stepped forward and moved to their side, his eyes finding something very interesting to gaze at on the floor. 

Slade, the eldest if Kaiba remembered correctly, finally seemed to realize someone else was watching this play out.

“Ah, Mister Kaiba I hope Chazz wasn’t bothering you. Really he should have better manners than that.” The tone was even but Chazz clearly didn’t miss the pointed criticism as he flinched back and mumbled an apology. 

“It’s fine.” Kaiba said waving off the shallow pleasantry, “He was far from the worst company this evening though I do have to wonder what it says about a family when a six-year-old is their best conversationalist.” With one last smirk and a wink at Chazz, Kaiba was sweeping out of the room. 

Chazz Princeton would certainly be one to watch.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting a day early since I'm moving tomorrow! Please enjoy and as always kudos, comments, and constructive criticism is welcome so let me know what you think.

The next time Kaiba saw Chazz was a year later at the National Junior Duel Monsters League Championship. He won the first three rounds handly and Kaiba wasn’t surprised at all to see his Light and Darkness Dragon holding a key position in his dueling strategy. 

Usually, Kaiba sent a representative of Kaiba Corp to this kind of lower-level event but since it was in Domino and even hosted in the Kaiba Dome the PR team thought it would be good publicity for Seto Kaiba to be there to greet the next generation of duelists. He had reluctantly agreed even if being around a bunch of snot-nosed kids for six hours wasn’t what he considered the best use of his time. It wasn’t until he got there this morning that he even saw Chazz was dueling. 

Since then it’d been better than expected. He’d made a speech, taken a few pictures and signed a few cards. Some of the duels were even mildly interesting, and not just Chazz’s there was a boy named Bastion Misawa who reminded him of Rebecca Hopkins. 

It was the intermission before the semi-final rounds and Kaiba set off to find Chazz Princeton backstage and congratulate him on his wins. Kaiba didn’t doubt for a second that he would make it to the final round looking at the potential deck matchups. 

He walked past some of the awed looks of younger duelists and found the room at the end of the hall that the manager had assigned to Princeton. He knocked twice and got no answer. He rapped his hand against the wooden door harder and was met with a small “Come in.”

He pushed open the door. The well-lit room was neat and orderly. A deck rested carefully shuffled on a desk. It took Kaiba a minute to find Chazz. That was probably because the young duelist was huddled behind the desk in the corner. Kaiba could barely make out a tuft of his spiky black hair from the doorway. 

He stepped fully into the room and from his new angle he could see the kid was curled in on himself. His legs were wrapped up tightly in his arms and pressed to his chest. Kaiba’s footfalls echoed across the room, the only other sound that could be heard was faint sniffling. 

Chazz’s head rose from where it was buried in the blue coat of his school uniform when Kaiba stepped closer. The kid’s eyes went as wide as saucers and he began to rub his eyes with his hands as if they weren’t puffy and red. As if he wasn’t just crying alone in a room at a duel monster’s tournament.

Kaiba didn’t know what to do. This did not compute. This isn’t why he’d come to speak to Chazz. The only kid he’d ever seen cry was Mokuba and that was different. That was his brother and Mokuba hadn’t cried in years. What did you do with crying kids? 

“Oh, Mister Kaiba it’s you. I thought it might be my brothers. I thought they might be coming today…” Chazz trailed off and looked down at his hands. 

Kaiba stepped closer, “Can I sit down?”

The boy shrugged and Kaiba took that as an affirmation, as he leaned back and slid down the wall next to the kid. 

“I have to win. My brother’s told me I have to be the best. It’s part of their plan.” The kid sounded miserable. Kaiba looked to the sidelines and wasn’t surprised at all to find the older Princeton’s missing, he had no doubt they never showed up for any of Chazz’s duels.

Being the best he’d always been a perfectionist even before the hell that was Gozaburo. But after, well after it was a cornerstone of his personality, a drive that wouldn’t let him sleep at night. He knew it wasn’t healthy, and he’d been working on it. He still remembered how his loss to the Pharoh had burned him, reduced him to doing things he still regretted and torn his psyche apart for longer than he’d care to admit. Looking at Chazz now as someone pushed the weight of failure on a seven-year-old felt far too familiar. It felt somehow like he was looking at a younger version of himself, a younger version of himself that looked freakishly like Mokuba. 

“What’s their plan?”

“World Domination,” Chazz deadpanned. 

Kaiba had to stop the laugh that threatened to spill out of his mouth, Instead, he choked it back with a cough. Slade and Jagger could take over the world when pigs flew. Neither was competent enough to be able to organize that. Hell, Kaiba would help Pegasusu take over the world himself first before he lived in an era where  _ Slade Princeton _ was in charge of anything important, “How do they plan on doing that?”

The kid looked so serious with his eyebrows drawn down like that. He chewed on his lip in indecision before he finally answered. “We’re going to rise to the top. My brothers and I, we’re each going to take over a sphere of influence. Slade’s going to bring the business world to heel,” Kaiba raised an eyebrow at that, “Jagger’s going to become a Supreme Court Judge and I’m going to be the best duelist in the world. It’s the plan. It’s why there are three of us. Money, law, and power with that the Princeton Group will run the world.” It sounded rehearsed, these weren’t the words of a seven-year-old. This was probably a monologue he heard every day from someone. 

Kaiba clenched his teeth and kept his voice calm, “So that’s what you want then? To be the best? To be the King of Games? To help your brothers take over the world?”

Chazz glanced up at Kaiba not quite meeting his eyes, “Dueling used to be fun,” he whispered and then cleared his throat, “It doesn’t matter I have to win. To be the best is my destiny.” He straightened and glared at Kaiba like he was daring him to challenge the statement.

  
  


Kaiba scoffed, “There is no such thing as destiny, and anyone that says differently is an idiot. You make  _ your _ own future.” 

The timid boy Kaiba had seen cowering in a corner was gone. Chazz’s hands were balled into fists and he’d jolted to his feet at Kaiba’s statement. Kaiba smirked at the venomous look the kid had pointed his way, his eyes were narrowed into slits, and if looks could kill -well he’d still be alive, but at least it was a valiant attempt. 

“You don’t know anything I have to win!” 

“Then you’re an idiot too,” Kaiba said, simply standing and straightening his coat. It looked like he was wrong and Seto Kaiba didn’t waste time on fools.

“If I don’t win they’ll leave me.” The whisper was barely audible. Kaiba stopped and he looked down again, his mind doing a one-eighty and reevaluating. 

“Why would they do that?”

“Father told me.” came the horrified whisper, “The Princetons don’t have time for a useless son.” Chazz’s breath was coming out fast and uneven. Too fast, Kaiba’s brain supplied. 

_ Shit _ , the kid was having a panic attack. 

Chazz’s eyes were buried in his bangs, “Hey, look at me,” Kaiba commanded, snapping in fingers in the kid’s face. The snap had the immediate effect of making Chazz flinch back, Kaiba grimaced, it wasn’t nice but he needed the kid to listen to him and he needed the kid to stop spiraling

“You’re having a panic attack,” He said to the kid’s raw hysteria as his body shook, “Match your breathing to my words. This will end soon. In.” Kaiba commanded intentionally taking a slow breath himself before holding it for three seconds and then releasing it, “Out.”

Chazz scrunched his eyes shut and took a shaky breath along with him. 

“Good again. In, hold, and out. Your heart is racing because your body is releasing adrenaline, you might feel dizzy or shaky, it will pass, just focus on your breathing.”

They stayed like that for a while, Kaiba calmly issuing orders to breathe and Chazz following along. Eventually, Chazz’s body slowed and then stopped shaking altogether. 

“Are you alright now?”

Chazz gave a small head nod and slowly opened his grey eyes. Then the kid dove forward and wrapped his arms around Kaiba. 

It was Kaiba’s turn to freeze as the kid buried his face in Kaiba’s coat. He wasn’t sure what to do. People didn’t usually touch him, he didn’t usually let them. Chazz squeezed tighter and Kaiba awkwardly patted the kid’s head. He’d never been seriously involved with children that weren’t Mokuba, what were you supposed to do in situations like this?

“Mr. Kaiba, sir-” A male voice panted from the door, “The next round in the final is about to begin, we need Mr. Princeton on the field.”

Kaiba turned and glared. The staff member recoiled at the look and clutched his clipboard tighter to his chest.

“Give me a minute,” Kaiba ordered, the staff man gave a hurried nod from the door before ducking away. 

“It’s your turn to duel,” Kaiba said, turning to Chazz, “Are you ready?”

The boy slowly peeled himself off of Kaiba’s coat and stood up straight, “I think so,” He said quietly. 

Kaiba frowned, “If you aren’t ready we can wait. They can start the semi-final match a few minutes late.”

“They can do that?”

“I can do that. It’s my tournament.”

“No,” Chazz said firmly, “I can do this.” His head dipped down, “I’m sorry you had to see the other part, Mister Kaiba. It just happens sometimes.”

“Look, kid, never apologize. I’ll see you on the field then.” Kaiba stepped out of the room and felt heavy. Thoughts he hadn’t bothered with in years were making a reappearance. He pinched the bridge of his nose and willed them away. He couldn’t help wondering if he made the right choice. He could call this whole tournament off, sure it would be a PR nightmare but he was Seto Kaiba. Chazz wouldn’t need to duel in the final at all because there would be no final. 

Still, that wouldn’t help Chazz for long. There was always another tournament and Kaiba couldn’t be at all of them. What  _ the fuck _ had he just watched? What kind of assholes drove a kid to that? They were his fucking blood relatives, they were his  _ brothers _ . 

* * *

“I activate my spell card! Now Light and Darkness Dragon, attack his life points directly!” Chazz ordered from his side of the field. The huge dragon hologram rolled it’s neck back and roared as it charged forward breathing a barrage of fire. The red numbers of his opponent’s life points ticked to zero and the crowd roared their approval. 

“There we have it! That’s a match!” The announcer cried, “Chazz Princeton is our new Junior League Champ!” The announcer strode onto the field and flung the microphone in Chazz’s face,

“Do you have anything to say to all your fans out there young man?” Chazz blushed pink and vigorously shook his head.

“Ah, the strong and silent type. I’m sure the ladies will love that!” The announcer joked with a wink, “Well let’s get all our winners on the field. We have a very special surprise for our young duelists. Drumroll please,” He said with a flourish of his hands, “Presenting our top three duelists with their trophies and prizes today is Mister Seto Kaiba himself! Let’s give it up for our favorite CEO!” 

Kaiba strolled onto the field, his coat billowing behind him. He was flanked with three bodyguards each carrying a trophy. The crowd went wild. 

When he got to the center the three winners were lined up with Chazz at the forefront, he stepped forward and accepted the mic from the announcer. 

Normally Kaiba would issue a challenge to all the duelists there to be the best. To strive for greatness and the titles that came with sitting on top of the dueling world. He usually would finish the speech by telling the brats to become good enough so they could even challenge him to a duel. Most of them of course wouldn’t, there were only a handful of duelists in the world that could even get him to break a sweat these days. Still, staring at Chazz’s blank face as he faced the crowd made something heavy uncoil in his stomach. How many times had he given this exact speech across tournaments? How many other kids were facing down unrealistic expectations and consequences of failure? 

Kaiba paused, took a breath, and spoke, “Fifteen years ago I rebuilt Kaiba Corp from the ground up and made it the company it is today. Before that dueling was just some little known tabletop card game, now dueling is a pivotal part of the sports, entertainment, and economic sectors of the world. Kaiba Corp had a choice to rise or fall to the challenge of adaptation. I made sure it rose.” 

He paused. The crowd had grown quiet as he continued to speak. There was an unnatural stillness in the arena. It wasn’t the usual showmanship that he went for these types of events, but those were words that needed to be spoken. For Chazz, for anyone that was like himself and duel monsters was their only escape. He was Seto Kaiba and he would make this heard, “To win a duel, the duelist must rise to the occasion and overcome any obstacle, whether that’s the luck of the draw, the skill of their opponent, or their mind.” 

Memories flickered through his mind as he spoke, from the shadow games to the millennium items, dueling was always about more than it may appear to the casual observer, “Some of the greatest duels ever played were won by losing. Winning isn’t defined by when your opponent’s life points hit zero, it’s about how much you gave up and overcame to be there. If you have to build yourself up from nothing to meet your goals as I did. Then do it. No excuses. No fear. Destiny doesn’t exist, there is only the future and the future is limitless!” 

The arena was silent. The announcer stared nervously at Kaiba and then tugged at his collar. Kaiba wordlessly passed the mic back to him. 

The announcer smiled awkwardly up at the crowd, “Well you heard it folks, wise words from Mister Seto Kaiba himself! Now without further ado, Kaiba Corp is proud to present the trophies to our top three duelists. First off, our new Junior League Champion Chazz Princeton! Let’s give it up for Chazz!” 

The crowd roared their approval. Kaiba snorted and stepped forward.

“Good duel,” He said simply as he handed Chazz the gold trophy and two ultra-rare packs of cards. He’d never seen the kid smile as wide as when he handed him the trophy, there wasn’t a hint of fragility that Kaiba had seen back in his preparation room. The boy smiled like there wasn’t a thing wrong with the world.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mokuba meets Chazz and Kaiba meets an old friend.

Mokuba blinked, “Seto, there’s a child in your office.”

“I know.” Kaiba lifted his mug of coffee to drink. He had been meaning to tell Mokuba about Chazz, but Mokuba was finishing up his exams and between that and working on setting up the regional junior league championship there hadn't been time. 

“Is he Ishizu’s?”

Kaiba choked and spat out the sip of coffee he had just taken. He started coughing as the liquid ran down the wrong pipe into his lungs. When he could finally breathe again he managed to splutter out, “What! No! Why would you even think that?”

Mokuba shrugged, “Well it was as good a guess as any. It’s not like you know many women.”

“So you immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was some sort of illicit love child with a woman I haven’t seen in years?!” 

“Well, Seto I don’t see why anyone in their right mind would leave a child with you otherwise. Besides, he kind of looks like you. Look at that little glower.” 

Kaiba glanced over and Chazz was indeed glowering at Mokuba from his seat. He sighed and rubbed his temples, he could already feel a migraine coming, “I raised you didn’t I brat, and if anything he looks more like you.”

Mokuba cocked his head and squinted, “I guess he kind of does. What are you trying to do? Replace me since I’m all grown up? Should I be jealous? This doesn’t seem like very stable behavior Seto. Do we need to go to family counseling?” 

“No,” He scowled, 

Mokuba gave him a knowing smirk. Whatever had happened to his loveable little brother? Maybe replacing Mokuba wasn’t such a bad idea after all. He looked over to the half-feral child who was glaring holes into Mokuba’s head. On second thought maybe that wasn’t a good idea. 

“Mr. Kaiba's my friend!” Chazz spat out defensively, his eyes glancing over to check his reaction. It was a nervous habit he’d noticed the kid had. He was always trying to read people’s expressions after he spoke. It was no doubt a vestigial defense mechanism from whatever went on in his home. He’d never met a kid so starved for approval before, at least when he was younger he had Mokuba. 

Kaiba kept his face even but didn’t deny it and the kid smiled at him, “See! He’s my friend.” 

Mokuba blinked and then burst out laughing, doubling over in the doorway and clutching his stomach. “Oh, I’ve got to text Yugi about this,” Mokuba whipped out his phone and snapped a picture of Chazz and then whirled around to snap another of Seto, “It’s only taken you thirty years to make a friend. I'm so proud.” 

He was going to write Mokuba out of his will. 

* * *

It was later that evening after Chazz went home -only after losing repeatedly to Mokuba at some console game that they were playing far too loudly in his office- when Kaiba finally got a chance to explain things to Mokuba. They’d decided to go out to eat. It was late and Kaiba was well aware of how empty his penthouse refrigerator was. The last thing he needed was for Mokuba to start mother henning him again. 

They’d finished their first course and Mokuba was still chatting away about the weird things he’d seen in America. Kaiba ordered a whiskey and listened fondly as his brother finished his story about his trip to Yellowstone. The waiter came back and set o

Mokuba finished half his soup before he finally got around to asking about what happened earlier in his office, “Seriously Seto, who was that kid?”

“His name is Chazz Princeton. He’s a duelist, a prodigy.”

“Princeton? Of the Princeton Group? I thought they were a rival company. What was their kid brother doing in your office?” 

Seto sighed, “We were discussing dueling strategies.”

Mokuba dunked a piece of bread into his soup and smirked, “So the brat really wasn’t lying; you are his friend.”

“Like I said he’s a prodigy. He has some very interesting ideas about how to use certain card combinations. Things that even I wouldn’t think about as a primary use. But no, the common interest in duel monsters isn’t why he was in my office. I’ve noticed some things that are wholly unsatisfactory about his home life.”

Mokuba stopped eating and frowned, “Are you gathering information to turn over to child services? Seto, you know how useless child services are, and then with the wealth and connections the Princeton’s have they could murder the kid and still walk away scot-free with the public’s sympathy.” 

He knows that. They both know how much power and wealth will let someone get away with. Kaiba still woke up in cold sweats from dreaming about Gozaburo and he’d murdered that bastard twice. 

Kaiba took a swig of amber alcohol before he responded, “He’s seven and I watched him have a panic attack and complete meltdown before the final of the last Junior League Championship. No one in his family was even there. They don’t even go to his tournaments. He told me that they threatened to disown him if he lost.” Mokuba’s fingers clenched angrily around his glass.“His family doesn’t seem to notice where he goes most days as long as he attends the dueling preparatory academy and his matches. He’s been showing up alone to my office every day for six months. I don’t know how he got past security for the first week, but after that, I just told them to give him access.”

Mokuba pushed his half-finished plate away. Kaiba didn’t blame him, he didn’t have much of an appetite left either. 

“Mokuba, I don’t know what to do.” 

Mokuba was silent as he picked apart a piece of his bread between his fingers, crumbles flittered down on the pristine tablecloth. He had a stubborn frown and a determined set in his shoulders as he finally stopped and met Kaiba’s eyes, “Don’t worry Seto, we’ll figure it out.” 

* * *

It’d only been a week and Mokuba had already corrupted Chazz. His little brother’s manipulative conniving mind had no lines it wouldn’t cross, which apparently included Kaiba’s carefully established sense of respect and boundaries with his resident office guest. 

Mokuba came into his office earlier this week, slapped his hand on the desk with a bang, and said, “You’ve been letting him call you Mister Kaiba for six months Seto! Six months! You’re unbelievable!” 

It’d actually been over two years now if you counted back to when they first met, not that he was going to tell his irate brother that. 

“It seemed appropriate.”

“Ughhh. This is why you’re thirty and your only friend is seven!” 

Kaiba scoffed, he texted Mutou sometimes, mostly to schedule rematches and test new deck strategies, but still, “I didn’t tell him to call me anything. He chose to. It’s fitting.” With that Kaiba went back to his emails and watched Mokuba out of the corner of his eye. 

Mokuba gave him a searching look and then blinked slowly, “You think it’s cute.” 

Kaiba stopped typing and looked up bewildered as his icy blue eyes met Mokuba’s grey. Mokuba smirked, “You do! Oh, my god I think I need to sit down.” Mokuba dramatically threw himself into the chair across from his desk and began to fan himself, “He’s like a little puppy-”

“You know I don’t like dogs.” 

Mokuba raised one eyebrow, “A little dragon then, a hatchling following you around, copying you, calling you Mr. Kaiba. Tell me I’m wrong.”

Kaiba didn’t say anything as he looked down at his keyboard. 

“Oh, man thank goodness I’m here to fix this. I don’t think the world could remain intact with what this is probably doing for your ego.” 

Kaiba did not like that response at all. 

Four days later Kaiba walked into his office and Chazz greeted him with a quiet ‘Hello Seto’ with Mokuba smirking a hand on his shoulder. That was the beginning of the end. 

* * *

Seto’s phone buzzed on his desk. He looked down and saw a text from Mokuba: _I think I’ve found a solution. Phoned a friend. :) You have an appointment._

The rest of the text was an address, a date, and a time. Kaiba groaned when he saw the building name. He had a pretty good idea of who exactly Mokuba’s ‘friend’ was. 

* * *

“Where are we going, Seto?” Chazz asked, trying his best to keep up. His blue and white school uniform was rumpled from their fast pace. Kaiba had already slowed down twice. It didn’t seem to matter though, Chazz had to take three steps just to keep up with one of his. 

“You’ll see,” Kaiba replied as he strolled through the automatic doors into the Department of Children and Family Services. The receptionist glanced up as they made their way over. 

“I’m here to see Joey Wheeler, I have an appointment.”

“Names please.” 

“Seto Kaiba and this is my younger brother Mokuba.” Kaiba silently prayed Chazz didn’t say anything. He in no way wanted the state to have a record that Chazz Princeton was here.

The woman’s face softened as she looked at Chazz, “What a cutie. Alright. I’ll phone him. Go on up. His office is on the fourth floor.” 

The inside of the building was as lifeless and grey as Kaiba remembered and the narrow hallways seemed even more claustrophobic now. He took off to the elevators with Chazz hot on his trail. As soon as they were out of sight from the receptionist Chazz was tugging on his sleeve and 

“Why did you tell her I was Mokuba?” Chazz whispered wrinkling his nose as he cocked his head towards the lobby. 

“I’m here to see an old friend and I want to surprise him.” That was about as far from the truth as he could get but Chazz seemed to buy the explanation as he nodded. Privately, Kaiba was pleased that Chazz didn’t seem to recognize Wheeler’s name, he couldn’t wait to rub the mutt’s face in it. 

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open as they stepped inside. Chazz excitedly hit the button for the fourth floor watching in delight as the button lit up orange. 

“I thought Mokuba said you didn’t have friends,” Chazz said, rocking back and forth as the lift rose. 

“Mokuba says a lot of things.” Kaiba says looking as the light flashed once for every floor they passed, “I have plenty of friends.” 

Chazz opened his mouth like he was going to press further but the elevator doors slid open to the fourth and Kaiba ushered him out. Kaiba fished his phone out of his pocket. Mokuba had given him an office number in his text. He didn’t look forward as he stepped forward and collided with a body. 

He stumbled and quickly regained his balance. He glared at whatever idiot decided to stand right in front of the elevator doors and was met with a very familiar pair of brown eyes and a mop of blond hair. 

Joey Wheeler looked almost the same as he did in high school. His hair was still long and disheveled like the concept of a comb was foreign. The clothes were new. The blonde was dressed in a suit, he even had a red tie resting at the center of his white button-down. It was still cheap compared to Kaiba’s own suits, but a marked improvement over the mutt’s old disheveled school uniform. Kaiba blinked and then looked away and coughed as he realized Wheeler had caught him staring. 

Wheeler had a lazy grin on his face as he stared at Kaiba. It was a sly look that Kaiba didn’t like. The back of Kaiba’s neck prickled and he had the sudden desire to step closer and fist his hand into the mutt’s shirt just to rumple his tie. 

He resisted the urge and instead slid his phone back into his pocket. It looked like he wouldn’t need the room number after all. 

Wheeler’s smile quickly turned into the look of a gaping fish as he spotted Chazz standing behind Kaiba. For once in his life, Wheeler was speechless as he looked between Chazz and Kaiba. Of course, it didn’t last as the mutt decided to open his mouth and start barking.

“Eh, so who’s the mini-me, Kaiba? Did you finally clone yourself?”

“Be quiet Wheeler.”

“Hey, I’m just asking. It’s not every day you see the great Seto Kaiba with a kid toddling around after him.” Joey smiled at Chazz and Kaiba smirked as the kid scowled at Wheeler like he was an unfortunate talking pigeon. Good, at least he had sense. 

That didn’t stop Wheeler now that he had gotten started. He beckoned them to follow him as he led them down the hall. He didn’t even wilt at the look Chazz was giving him, instead, he just smiled at the kid and went right on talking, “I saw your speech in the Junior National Championship. Man, you sure have changed a lot since high school.” 

“Do you really have so much free time that you watch the Junior League?”

The blond smiled brightly, “Nah, usually I wouldn’t, but Tea sent it to all of us. She has it special recorded or something. She blasted it all over social media tagged with #friendship speeches.”

Kaiba came up blank. The Pharaoh's cheerleading posey was still paying attention to him? And Tea, she was the least interested in duel monsters out of Yugi’s whole friend group. He would process the uncomfortable feeling sitting in his ribcage later and depending on his feelings that would determine how long he would crash all the technology she owned for, “I’m not here for a social visit. I’m here for your professional expertise.” 

“Ah, finally came to admit I’m a good duelist then.” Joey joked as he ushered them into a small office. 

The room was comfortable with a cheap desk shoved haphazardly in the corner, outdated beige tile covered the floor, two chairs that looked like they were on their last legs sat across from the desk. The walls were covered in duel monsters posters, photos of grinning kids, and a few motivational memes. All in all the room was rather shabby and just about what he would have expected from Wheeler’s workspace. That didn’t stop Kaiba from relaxing the moment he stepped in, compared to the oppressively clinical hallway this was a breath of fresh air, and he had a sneaking suspicion that Wheeler might have set his office up this way on purpose. 

“As if. Your strategies are all luck based and predictable, your cards are years outdated and your combos are pathetic. You’re second-rate at best.”

“Aww, Kaiba I knew you always liked me,” Wheeler said with an irritating grin, Kaiba took a deep breath and restrained himself from making a dog joke. He needed Joey’s advice and riling up the blond would be counter-productive right now, even if the blond seemed set on trying to find all of his buttons. Besides he wasn’t sure how Chazz would react to fighting and he knew historically that when he and Wheeler fought it could get quite loud. 

“I need your proficiency in regards to a case,” Kaiba’s eye’s darted over to Chazz who was still glaring at Joey with a singular hatred, “I trust that you are capable of being discreet.” 

The blond’s eyes followed his and landed on the boy. There was a moment of understanding in his amber eyes and his face fell before he nodded, “I see. Well, why don’t you sit down and introduce me.” 

“I’m Chazz Princeton.” the kid cut in stiffly, crossing his arms over his chest and making no indication he planned to move towards the chairs Wheeler indicated. Kaiba didn’t blame him, those chairs looked far from safe.

“I’m Joey Wheeler pleased ta meet’cha.” The blond stuck out his hand for a shake. Chazz stuck his chin out in reply, glowered, and didn’t take it. Not one to be easily put out Joey continued talking, “So do you like duel monsters?”

Chazz makes a ‘tsk‘ sound at the attempt to draw him into a conversation, “Of course I like duel monsters. I'm the Junior National Champion. I thought you said you watched the Junior League Championship. Are you going senile old man? I bet you don’t even know how to play.”

“Ouch, right through the heart squirt,” Wheeler said, clutching his hands dramatically over his chest, “As a matter of fact I do know how to duel. Even gave Kaiba a run for his money once or twice.”

“Maybe in your dreams.” 

“Mmm, at least I’ve beaten Yugi a couple times, more than can be said for you eh, Kaiba?”

Chazz’s eyes widened as he recognized the name of the famous King of Games and then he looked back up at Kaiba who scowled. It still irritated Kaiba that somehow the Mutt’s pure dumb luck had allowed him to do something that Kaiba himself had never managed. It was a fluke in the universe and one Kaiba didn’t like to be reminded of. 

“Liar,” Chazz said, schooling his face into a frown, “There’s no way a loudmouth like you could beat Yugi Mutou. You’ve probably never even met him.”

Kaiba internally groaned at how wrong that conclusion was. Even fifteen years later Wheeler and Yugi were as thick as thieves.

Joey took the insult in stride, “Well you can believe what you want or you can admit I’m right and I’ll show you my photo album from Battle City!”

Joey slid one of his rusty filing cabinets open and pulled out a thick photo album. Chazz looked up at Kaiba for what he didn’t know. Being in Wheeler’s presence for too long was giving him a headache. 

He pinched the bridge of his nose and said, “Wheeler was in Battle City.”

“Oh,” Chazz said looking back at Joey with guarded curiosity, “I suppose if you have photographic evidence…”

“Sure do! I even have a picture of little Kaiba in here somewhere with his dramatic shoulder pad monstrosity of a coat.”

First, Mokuba and now Wheeler, it seemed the universe was bent on throwing bad influences at Chazz.

“Why do you even have that in your office?” Kaiba grumbled as Joey leaned over to flip through pages in the album before handing it to Chazz. 

Joey shrugged, “Some of the kids like to look, calms ‘em down. You’d be surprised how much good seeing Yugi’s baby face does for them.” 

“Does Mutou know you do this?” 

“Yup. He even gave me some of his more embarrassing photos to include. Hey, Chazz, can I have a minute with Kaiba alone while you look through there?”

“He lets me call him Seto!” Chazz blurted out looking triumphant as he clutched the photo book to his chest. Kaiba frowned, where did that come from?

Joey barked out a laugh, “Of course he does, _Seto_ is real nice like that. Don’t worry we have our nicknames for each other. Isn’t that right Rich Boy?” The mutt quirked an eyebrow at him and Kaiba scowled.

Chazz looked between Joey and Kaiba and glowered before stomping out into the hall and sitting down on the floor across from the door, crossing his arms over his chest as he continued to glare at Joey. He was still in their line of sight, Kaiba watched as he pulled out his deck and began flipping through cards as the photo album was cracked open and balanced on his knees. Kaiba had a pretty good idea of exactly the two cards Chazz was trying to find in his deck. 

“Some attitude the kid’s got. You’re rubbing off on him already.”

“Or maybe he just smelled the wet dog in here.”

Joey scoffed, “Quit deflecting. Tell me what’s really going on. You wouldn’t come down to see me if you didn’t have to and I can tell that you didn’t tell the kid what I do or why he’s here.”

He was always taken off guard when Joey let his intelligence flash through. The blond instinctually picked up cues from people and put them together in a way that Kaiba fundamentally didn’t understand. 

Kaiba cast one more look at Chazz to make sure he was preoccupied before he turned to Joey and lowered his voice, “Chazz is being abused.”

Joey nodded, “I take it there’s more to it than that, or you would already have somebody locked up or shot and buried in a shallow grave.”

“I don’t have evidence, at least nothing physical, but the neglect is apparent. The problem is his family is influential, if I make the wrong move this is going to get ugly and it won’t turn out well for Chazz.” Joey made a hmm noise and scratched his chin, “I just want to know what my options are.”

“Honestly Kaiba not much, you and I have both seen how this works first hand. You could call in an anonymous tip, but I think we both know how useful that is. You aren’t the kid’s parent, you aren’t even family. Hell, you’re a business rival, everything you say is going to be seen with suspicion. To be honest Kaiba you walking around with a kid that isn’t related to you is going to raise all sorts of rumors and red flags for people.” 

Kaiba paused. Red flags? Like- oh. _Oh_ . He had never considered that it might look like that. His fingers curled into his palm leaving the imprint of half circles as his nails dug into the skin. Anger uncoiled in his stomach. How _disgusting!_ Is that really what people would think? He hadn’t even considered that angle of the optics. Humans were disgusting and at that moment Kaiba hated them unequivocally.

Joey was still talking, “I hope you already have Mokuba working on a cover story.” 

“How can you stand this place.” He blurted out, unable to contain himself. Joey looked taken off guard by his comment. His eyes scanned his face like he was looking for a missing piece, and Kaiba’s anger flashed hotter, “You work in a system that does nothing. That fails child after child while the truth sits in front of your noses.” 

“Someone has to Kaiba. I do everything I can.” There was a hitch in the blond’s voice, in that moment he looked more worn down than Kaiba would have ever thought possible. The dark circles under his eyes seemed pronounced somehow. It didn’t matter. It clearly wasn’t enough and he was too angry to care about the mutt’s mental state right now. 

“Yes, I can see that. That’s why it seems like you’re telling me to do nothing because that’s your status quo.” 

“If you want my professional opinion? Yeah, at this point there’s no way that the state is going to order a complete investigation into the Princeton family, and even if they did I guarantee you that the social worker isn’t going to find enough to recommend removing from the home.”

“This was a waste of my time. Thanks for nothing, mutt.” Kaiba stood in a flurry and turned on his heel storming towards the door, “Chazz-!”

“Hold on Kaiba, I wasn’t done,” Joey shouted after him. There was a light touch on his shoulder as the mutt tugged him around.

Kaiba whipped around furiously, swiping the offending appendage off of his person, and snarled, “What?”

Chazz was on his feet and already in the doorway watching with wide eyes as the scene played out. Wheeler’s voice was still irritatingly calm and sure. 

“If you want my personal opinion, you’re Seto _fuckin’_ Kaiba you’re gonna do whatever the hell you want anyways and no one’s going to stop you.”

Kaiba blinked, his face going blank as the slurry of venom he was about to spew died on his tongue. Wheeler lowered his volume and leaned in closer to his ear so Chazz couldn’t hear. 

“It’s obvious you’ve already taken the kid under your wing, keep it up. He’s going to need someplace safe and someone to turn to, just by being there a chance to do something else might appear in the future. You said the kid’s a duelist right?” 

Kaiba nodded, mutely. 

“My guess is he’s probably pretty good for you to have noticed him. So that’s your story if anyone asks, say that you’re taking him on as a prodigy, something about a program Kaiba Corp is working on to build young talent and get students interested in careers. People fall for shit like that all the time. Don’t play it up too much and keep the kid out of the limelight if you can help it. That should give the kid enough cover and you enough cover too. Keep it believable.” 

Kaiba stared. Apparently you could teach an old dog new tricks. 

Joey was leaning into his space and pressing a business card into his pocket, “Here’s my number in case something comes up. And I scribbled the number of one of the best child therapists in the country, though you might need it when I saw the little hellion.” 

Wheeler winked at Chazz who was still standing uncertainly in the doorway, “Did you like the pictures? Duel monsters sure has come a long way huh?” 

Chazz nodded timidly as he nervously glanced at Kaiba. Joey was rambling easily at the kid as he knelt down and pointed to a few of his favorite photographs. Kaiba watched in amazement as Chazz relaxed bit by bit into the easy conversation. Kaiba might - _might-_ have to send Wheeler some of his own photos from Battle City if this is what they did. 

“Alright, I’m sure Kaiba over there is itching to get back to work and I have a meeting at two, so why don’t I show you guys out?” 

Chazz frowned and reluctantly returned the photo album. Wheeler tucked it under his arm, “Of course Chazz you can always come back whenever. My doors always open and I’m sure Kaiba or Mokuba would be happy to bring you.” Wheeler gave him a pointed look, that Kaiba wasn’t fond of one bit, but he didn’t say anything as Chazz gave a slight nod of his head. 

Joey stood and Kaiba stepped past him towards the door as he did he murmured a low, “Thank you, Joey.” 

“Yeah, well do us all a favor Kaiba, and let Mokuba be the one to teach him manners.” 

Kaiba smirked, “No promises.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your glowing comments they give me so much energy! I'm glad everyone is melting in the cuteness of a baby Chazz. I've been bogged down in work but know that I appreciate every comment and kudos and will be responding to them when I finally get some time. Anyways hope you enjoyed see you next Wednesday for more!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chazz's first day at Duel Academy

Kaiba had been unable to focus all day. He tapped his fingers idly at his keyboard in a mock facsimile of typing. Every time he stared at the schematics he was supposed to be reviewing his mind would flip back to the empty chair in his office. 

Chazz was going to Duel Academy a year early. His family had enrolled him and he’d passed the entrance exams with top marks, automatically guaranteeing him a place in Obelisk Blue. Kaiba had signed the age exemption papers and liability waivers for the school himself. 

This should be ideal. Kaiba should be thrilled. Duel Academy was his, and while he might not directly run it Duel Academy had some of the top dueling educators in the world. Chazz would be away from his family’s influences and hopefully more independent and confident as a result. He should be happy but instead, he just felt irritated. 

Kaiba glanced at the empty chair again and something twinged in his chest. Some deep-rooted instinct was screaming at him that this was a mistake and he couldn’t shake the looming shadow of that feeling. It reminded him far too much of the feelings he had when Mokuba was eight and there was the threat of kidnapping every time Kaiba let him out of his sight. Chazz wasn’t Mokuba though, their relationship was much more low key; only a handful of people even knew about Chazz. Not to mention that Chazz wasn’t a child anymore -at least Chazz certainly didn’t think he was- and Kaiba had even less control over Chazz than he did on a teenage Mokuba all those years ago.

The CEO pinched the bridge of his nose. What was wrong with him? 

Chazz was fourteen now and he had stopped coming by every day as he grew older and more withdrawn. Kaiba still had grown accustomed to seeing him several times a week. He glared at the empty chair, his finger hovered over the buzzer. If he just removed the evidence maybe then he could finally get back to work. But what if Chazz came back over the holidays? Where would he sit? 

He ground his teeth and tore his eyes away from the chair and back to his computer screen. 

Officially Chazz’s relationship to Kaiba Corp was an internship, unofficially it was more or less a series of family dinners, Mokuba’s words, not his own. Sometimes, Mokuba even had the audacity to invite the mutt over to eat with them and to his chagrin, the dog would accept and then joke about never turning down a free meal. 

Kaiba would never admit to looking forward to those rare few hours, he would take the small bubble of happiness in his chest to his grave with him. But, that didn’t change the fact that those dinners would be stopped for the foreseeable future. 

Kaiba sent one more withering look at the empty chair before he went back to his lackluster typing. 

* * *

Chazz wasn’t sure what to expect from Duel Academy. He’d seen the brochures, he’d even seen some of the top duelists from the academy on tv before but none of that made a dent on his anxiety. He’d kept his hands stuffed safely in his uniform’s pockets the whole day. His hand clenched around his deck, a nervous habit from his tournament days he’d never been able to shake. 

The students in the three uniform colors stepped off the island ferry. Chazz waited for the crowd of students to disembark, lingering towards the back and watching. The students were laughing and joking, some even had their hands thrown over one another shoulders like they’d known each other for years. They looked so carefree. Chazz didn’t understand and that scared him. 

When there were only a handful of students still on the dock Chazz decided it was safe enough to step off the boat. He walked across the gangplank and onto Duel Academy Island for the first time. It was so big. 

“Light,” He whispered, instantly the large black and white dragon duel spirit popped into existence, trilling happily at Chazz as he looked around. The dragon spread its wings and stretched before giving them a few hesitant flaps. 

_ “I like it here.”  _ Light said glancing around, “ _ It’s so big. Lots of room to fly around. And oh, is that a volcano? All good territories have volcanoes good for hot springs.”  _

Chazz felt his nerves settling and he couldn’t help but smile as the dragon followed him down the path commenting on their new surroundings. Light always made him feel safe. He was one of Chazz’s oldest cards from the first set of booster packs he’d opened.

Chazz stopped, the ocean was out of sight and now he could hardly see the path from the trees. Had he taken a wrong turn? He’d been so far behind the other students they’d all broken away before he got off the ferry. Now he was alone in a forest with no one to follow or ask directions to the dorms. 

Light seemed to notice his discomfort and twisted his long neck back around when Chazz stopped walking. 

_ Chazz?  _

“I’m just not sure if this is the right way.” He muttered to the dragon, “They didn’t give us an island map.”

The dragon dipped its head in acknowledgment and then flexed its wings. 

_ I will fly up and guide you.  _

Before Light could get off the ground a calm male voice cut through the forest, “Hey, are you lost, freshman?”

Chazz slowly turned to look behind him; there was an older boy with long dark brown hair in an Obelisk Blue uniform. The other student looked relaxed with a lopsided grin on his face. Beside him was the unmistakable blue hair of Zane ‘the Kaiser’ Truesdale. 

Chazz froze and gulped. This was one of the top duelists in the academy. He’d even heard Seto mention to Mokuba about offering him a contract with Kaiba Corp after he graduated even though that was two years away.

Zane’s eyes were focused on him with a sharp intensity before they snapped to the brown hair student, “Atticus we’re already late enough as it is. I thought you wanted to meet your sister at the dock to show her around.”

“I do but look at this little guy,” The annoying student gestured at Chazz, “He’s tiny.” 

Chazz bristled at the jab to his height and instantly stood up straighter. Who did this guy think he was? Light growled lightly from behind him as he faced down the two strangers. The two academy students gave no sign that they saw the duel spirit though. Chazz’s anger rolled away from him and he felt his stomach drop in disappointment. 

He hadn’t told Seto much about his gift, Seto really didn’t like talking much about things like that. But Seto had told him when he was younger that most of the top duelists in the world had some sort of sensitivity to their cards and duel spirits. Seto’s dragons certainly seemed to flock around him and Mokuba. Even Joey Wheeler, who most of the time Chazz felt like had cotton for brains, had his massive Red Eyes Black Dragon that would pop in and out of his life. Wheeler hadn’t dueled since Battle City, but that didn’t change the fact that his iconic monster seemed to stick around. 

Chazz had never met someone quite like him but he’d been hoping to here at the Academy. Surely there had to be someone else that could see Duel Spirits the way he could. But here was Zane Truesdale, a dueling prodigy, with a giant dragon duel spirit growling at his face and the man couldn’t see it. 

“We can’t just leave him alone in the forest on his first day! What if he gets stuck in the haunted dorms?” The brown-haired- Atticus whined to Zane. Chazz felt himself bristle again, sure he was lost but as a Princeton he would never admit it and he certainly wouldn’t be asking for help from this idiotic upperclassmen. He could find his own way even if it took him all night. 

Zane sighed and Atticus cracked a huge grin. Chazz didn’t like that look at all. It reminded him of Mokuba right before he was about to pull a prank. 

“Don’t worry I know what we can do,” The older boy darted forward and wrapped a hand around Chazz’s wrist. Chazz flinched and tried to yank away but the hand refused to release him. It was firm and gentle as it tugged him forward into following Atticus, “We’ll just take the freshman with us! We can show him the way to the dorms after we pick up Alexis.”

Light was glowering and roaring from behind him, but the dragon could do nothing as Chazz was pulled back the way he came. 

* * *

Chazz was becoming more irritated by the second. He was half a minute away from kicking Atticus in the shins and making a run for it rather than spending even a millisecond more in his company. 

The upperclassman would just not stop talking. He rambled on about everything! Chazz hadn’t said a goddamn word in twenty minutes as he stumbled along behind the two older students. Zane wasn’t saying anything either. No, it was just Atticus’s grating voice talking about dining hall food like a starving man. 

Chazz grit his teeth as he saw the now empty ferry dock. He was literally back where he started. The only difference was a blonde girl in the white and blue skirt Obelisk uniform standing on the dock with her arms crossed. 

“You’re late Atticus!” She snapped, her eyes narrowed as she enunciated every syllable.

“Sorry, sis. I had to make a daring rescue!” Atticus said, pulling Chazz forward and throwing an arm across his shoulders. Chazz’s eyes twitched in irritation and he jerked back. He refused to be a body shield in a sibling feud. “This poor guy got lost!”

Chazz spluttered and shoved Atticus away from him, “I did not!”

The girl huffed but the tension seemed to drain away from her shoulders as she accepted the excuse. She ignored Atticus and instead turned to look at Chazz, bowing slightly, “Sorry about my brother. I know he can be a little much. I’m Alexis,” She offered her hand and he hesitantly took it giving it a light shake. 

“Chazz,” He offered, eyeing her with interest as he glanced between her and Atticus. It was easy to see the two as siblings; they had the same nose. But where Atticus seemed to take nothing seriously and throw himself everywhere Alexis clearly had manners. It reminded Chazz a little bit of the time Joey had brought his sister Serenity over. He would never dare to speak to Jagger or Slade like that but he couldn’t help but watch in fascination as Alexis snarked at her brother. 

“I hope he didn’t annoy you too much, sadly it’s one of his only skills and no one seems able to housetrain him.”

“Aww, Lexi right in the heart! How will my ego survive?” Atticus dramatically fisted his hand in his shirt like he was suffering from heart pain. Chazz wrinkled his nose as the cleanly pressed white undershirt wrinkled with the gesture. “How could you say something so mean about your brother?” 

“Easily when you tell me how excited you are to see me and show me around and then make me wait an hour in the heat!” 

“Touche.” The brown-haired idiot said rubbing the back of his head, “Oh yeah, this is my pal, Zane. He’s a real nerd but a good guy.” 

Alexis blushed slightly and offered her hand again, “Zane Truesdale right? It’s nice to meet you. Wow, you’re a lot taller in person!” 

Zane smiled and took her hand giving it a brief shake, “I’ve heard a lot about you from your brother. I look forward to dueling you.”

Alexis blushed an even brighter red, “Right well you better be ready to lose then because my cyberbladers don’t take any prisoners.”

Cyberbladers? Huh, Chazz had never dueled anyone with that subclassification of card before. His hand tweaked towards his deck instinctively double-checking that it was there. It was safely tucked away in his inner coat pocket where he’d left it. 

“I’ll keep that in mind. So,” Zane said, turning to Chazz, “Which dorm do we need to drop you at freshman?”

Chazz bristled and crossed his arms. The Kaiser was quickly losing his charms. Seriously would he have to duel manners into everyone on this blasted island? 

“My name is Chazz.” He glared at the older student, “And I would appreciate you using it.”

Zane’s eyes narrowed and his smile thinned. Chazz stood up straighter expecting some kind of retort but the older boy just shrugged and asked again, “Where are we taking you?”

Chazz glanced down at his grey suit he was melting in. He hadn’t changed into the Duel Academy uniform on the ferry. His family had shipped all his belongings to the dorm ahead of time along with all his uniforms. It would be unseemly for a Princeton to be seen carrying things around like a servant. Still it meant that he stood out like a sore thumb on the ferry and even now among his future dorm mates he was unidentifiable.

“I’m in Obelisk Blue.”

“Really?” Atticus gushed and Chazz didn’t know whether he should be offended that they didn’t believe him or that they didn’t recognize him. It wasn’t like his image wasn’t posted all over various dueling magazines. His family was very keen about putting his name out there. 

“Wow that sure is convenient! I guess we’re all going to the same place and I thought Lex here was the only one that placed high enough in the entrance exam to get automatic placement in Obelisk this year.” 

Chazz swallowed. Was that true? Seto hadn’t said anything like that. He thought that with the schools dorm hierarchy people were placed by skill and the entrance exam was a cake walk. Alexis was looking at him with interest again. 

“Yeah… well,” He mumbled trying to draw attention away from himself, “I think I was admitted last minute.”

“That’s great though! Our dorm needs more cute and tiny duelists like you! Everyone gets so intimidated by Zane and his whole cool guy act. Pretty soon I think the Slifers might just faint at the color blue.” Atticus said with a grin. 

Cute… and tiny…? 

He was NOT tiny! He was still growing, he had lots of time and he wasn’t cute either! Chazz flushed in anger and opened his mouth to tell the loud mouth exactly where he could shove it when he felt a light touch as an arm slid around his hooking to his elbow. Apparently Alexis could tell he was about to blow up too as she looped her arm around his. His train of thought stopped from having someone unfamiliar once again in his personal space. Chazz takes it back about Alexis no one on this island had any sense of manners. 

“Can we get out of this heat now?” Alexis pouted at her brother, “And don’t forget you promised to show me the state of the art dueling stadiums before the welcome dinner!” 

“Sure thing! Here Lex, let me carry your suitcase.” Atticus scooped down and took the bag by Alexis’s feet flicking the handle out with the click of a button, “Let me lead the way and be the first to welcome you to Duel Academy!” 

* * *

Seto's phone buzzed.  **From Mokuba:**

_ Seto look! Baby’s first day at school! XD They grow up so fast!  _

Kaiba scrolled down to find the formal Duel Academy Class photo. There in the front row was Chazz in his dark blue school uniform. He was standing next to two Ra students rather than in the Obelisk section, no doubt they’d put him there because he was a good foot shorter than the rest of his classmates. He wasn’t smiling but he also didn’t have his patented scowl so Kaiba had to interpret that as contentment. 

He let out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding. Chazz was fine. He was at Duel Academy and he was fine. The rational part of his brain took this information and thrust it at the whispering voice that claimed something would go wrong. 

_ And look what I found on the Duel Academy Duelnet page! LMAO he looks as happy to have friends as you do!  _

Chazz was hunched over as an obelisk student slung one arm over his shoulders and used the other to ruffle his hair. Ah, there was the patented Chazz Princeton scowl. Chazz was glaring holes into the brown-haired student while a younger blonde girl was curled over laughing in the photo. Other than Chazz the only student Kaiba recognized was Zane Truesdale who stood to the side with the faintest smile on his lips as he looked on.

Kaiba was surprised to see the older student as he’d always pegged Truesdale as more standoffish. Still, it was interesting, it would be good for Chazz to duel with people that used vastly different decks than his own dragon deck. It was another reason to keep an eye on Truesdale as well, his duels strategy was brutal and Kaiba was looking forward to his entrance into the professional stage in a few years. 

His phone buzzed again as a new photo appeared on the screen. 

_ He still has your bad manners. _

The next photo was clearly taken a few minutes after the prior one as Chazz is now standing upright, his hair a mess. He looks less than pleased by the situation as he tries to kick the older boy in the shins. His brows are furrowed and his cheeks puffed up as he glares at the brunette who has his head thrown back mid-laugh. That was a look Kaiba knew all too well from his younger days. Chazz Princeton Junior National Champion was sulking. 

It seemed like Chazz had already attracted his own version of the geek squad. Seto saved the pictures on his desktop. He’d get them printed later, Joey might want to add it to his photo wall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I off by a week and a few days? Yes, yes I am! But I've also been outlining way more of this story than I thought possible for this little brain worm so there's more gx weirdness on the way! As always kudos, comments, and constructive criticisms are all appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chazz has an eventful first month at duel academy and is maybe on his way to making some friends.

The morning air was crisp on Duel Island as Chazz walked to class; Alexis had joined him as she did every day. At first, he thought it was just a coincidence, that she was a morning person too, but that idea was quickly dispelled on their first Saturday in the dorms. Chazz had knocked on her door to ask her to come with him to breakfast only to be met with a scowling bleary-eyed Alexis. She promptly slammed the door in his face and told him to come back at a more reasonable hour. Chazz decided that girls were scary. 

Still, it’d become their routine on school days to walk to class together. The blonde girl was smiling fondly as she walked along the forest path. Unlike her brother, she didn’t seem to have any problem with leaving things in silence. It was refreshing. 

Chazz really wasn’t sure what to make of her. She was... well she was fierce. Chazz had watched her win a duel against some upperclassman who wouldn’t stop flirting with her in four turns. The guy was so embarrassed that he hadn’t spoken to her since. And she was, Chazz felt his cheeks heat up, she was really pretty. She was nice too and she didn’t seem to mind hanging out with him even when his temper got the best of him. He quickly glanced away from her as his heart rate picked up. He didn’t want her to decide he needed a beatdown in a duel too. 

Chazz was pulled out of his musing by an irritatingly familiar voice. 

“Hey, sissy and pipsqueak!” 

He instinctively scowled at the annoying nickname. It had been nothing but a naive and foolish dream that he could somehow lose the overly jovial upperclassman. He’d tried everything from scathing retorts to physically kicking the older boy. Nothing worked. Instead, Atticus seemed intent to stick to him like glue. 

He groaned as he saw the familiar blue hair of Zane Truesdale bobbing beside Atticus. Great two of his least favorite people. This morning was already off to a great start. 

Most of the classes were separated by year but not electives. That was how he found himself on the gymnasium floor stuck between Atticus and Zane in their Summoning Evolutions class. 

The teacher was showing a video of Yugi Mutou ritual summoning Chaos Magician during Battle City. The clip came to a close with a holographic blast from the duel monster and his opponent’s life points hitting zero. It always was quiet when they watched the greats’ duel. The slackers in the back of class seemed to know when to keep their mouths shut. Even in the recordings, there was something special about watching the original greats play their cards. 

The lights flicked back on as the teacher stepped in front of the class again, “Now, as I’m sure you’ve all done the assigned readings on ritual summons. I want each of you to take a practice deck and pair up on the floor to run through combos.” 

There was the sound of shuffling as people began to make eye contact and pair off. Chazz glanced around nervously hoping to find another Obelisk in his area to partner with. He stepped closer to a boy on his left to ask him if he wanted to work together when Atticus’s voice boomed out. 

“Wow, who thought Professor Hayden would be such a stickler on the pre-work. Still, it’s ritual summons how hard could this be?” 

Had this idiot not even done the readings? He doubted it. Every impression he had of the brunette was that he slacked off at every given opportunity and didn’t take anything seriously. He gritted his teeth. He didn’t have the luxury of being lazy. 

Chazz bristled as his potential partner waved at another student and made his way across the room. He looked around the room again hoping to catch someone else lagging behind on the assignment. There was no one. Great, the only people left where Zane, Atticus, Alexis, and him. 

The packages of practice decks were passed around and Chazz mindlessly picked one. He felt the unfamiliar cards tingle, but no spirits appeared. Good, new spirits were always too curious the first time. It was distracting, especially when this was already a new deck. 

“So Zane, you and me?” Atticus asked as he grabbed his own deck and placed it in his disk, “Lex why don’t you go with the little guy?” 

_ Little guy _ . The casual nickname only set Chazz more on edge and he couldn’t stop the acidic words that spilled from his mouth, “Like it matters who you go with you’re going to lose either way.” 

How could he expect to get anywhere when he didn’t do the work? 

Atticus gave him a weighty stare, “You know pipsqueak you certainly talk a big game. But, I don’t think you’re dueling can back up your mouth.”

Silence filled the gymnasium and everyone was staring at them. Chazz felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end at the sudden rush of attention. The crowd seemed to sense blood as they pointed and whispered. He heard faint calls murmurs of ‘fresh meat is about to be served’ and ‘who does that freshman think he is’. Chazz ignored them all and puffed up his chest. He was a Princeton he would not back down from a fight. 

“Is that a challenge?” 

Atticus rolled his shoulders and flicked his duel disk open, “You bet it is! Kid someone’s got to teach you to have respect for your elders. You can’t go around acting like such a little jerk all the time.”

Chazz froze. Unbidden images of his brothers looking coldly down on him came to mind before he managed to draw in a breath and cut them off. Respect. That was… well, he knew to respect people when it was important when they deserved it. Slackers who didn’t even do the pre-work didn’t deserve it! 

“Oh, because you’re so worthy of respect,” Chazz narrowed his eyes and felt the crowd gasp at his audacity. Chazz smirked, the audience wanted a show he would give them a show. He’d heard their whispers in the hallways about how his family had bought his place here. That he wasn’t actually that good. Chazz could put up with a lot but no one insulted his cards or his dueling. 

Alexis tugged on his sleeve, “Chazz you don’t have to do this. Atticus-” she started looking towards her brother in hopes of stopping them. 

“What, you don’t think I can do this?” Chazz growled at Alexis. She was supposed to be his friend and she didn’t trust him. Atticus frowned at his tone and it looked like he had some sort of retort lined up. Chazz didn’t let him finish. “Whatever!” 

He shrugged off Alexis and she stepped away looking deeply unhappy. What did he care if she didn’t think he could win against an idiot like Atticus? He didn’t. Not even if it felt like he had a rock in his stomach. He wasn’t disappointed. “You’re on!”

“Alright pipsqueak just don’t go crying to Momma when you lose.” 

Chazz shoved his deck into his duel disk. The joke was on Atticus. Chazz had never gone crying to his mother in his life. What would be the point if she was never there? 

“Draw. Age and beauty before youth, I’ll go first.” 

Chazz nodded stiffly as Atticus looked through his starting hand. He smiled as he played two cards face down and set a monster.

“I end my turn.”

Chazz drew a card and looked down at his own hand. His eyes narrowed as he ran across his starting cards. He had a Sphere Kuriboh, Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight, Valkyrian Knight, an Enemy Controller spell card, and Gateway to Chaos. It was a far cry from his usual dragon deck. Given the types and variety of cards, it was hard to see the core strategy the deck was built around or what other cards might be buried in the deck. 

He slid the Enemy Controller into the facedown slot on his duel disk. “I activate the field spell Gateway to Chaos. This card lets me add one Black Luster Soldier to my hand. Next, I summon Valkyrian Knight in attack position.” Chazz flicked the card onto his disk’s surface, “Let’s get this show on the road, Valkyrian Knight attack!” 

Atticus smiled, “You’re getting ahead of yourself. From my hand, I send Sphere Kuriboh to the graveyard, and your monster switches to defense mode.” 

Chazz hissed as his monster switched positions, kneeling with its sword buried defensively in the ground, “I end my turn.”

Atticus drew a card, “I activate the spell card Black Illusion Ritual. By banishing Sphere Kuriboh I can ritual summon Relinquished,” Some of their classmates cheered and Chazz narrowed his eyes. He didn’t need commentary from the peanut gallery. Atticus obviously was running a Relinquished deck. He needed to think Relinquished was a tricky card to take down. 

“Now I’m sure you know all about Relinquished’s effect. I equip your Valkyrian Knight to my monster.” Chazz watched as his monster flipped to Atticus’s side of the field and Relinquished’s attack points rose from 0 to 1900. Atticus smiled and flicked his wrist, “Relinquished, take it away!” 

“Not so fast. I activate Enemy Controller and-” Chazz starts as he flips his spell card over. 

“What a coincidence! I activate Enemy Controller too!” Atticus said with a smirk. Chazz’s eyes widened as the two enemy controllers canceled each other and Relinquished continued to attack his life points directly. He hisses at the impact as he instinctively raises an arm to block his face. When the debris cleared his life points flashed at 2100. 

“Come on freshman where’s all your big talk now?”

Chazz narrowed his eyes and laid his hand on top of his deck. He felt the deck tingle. He could feel it trying to tell him something. There was a faint call from a spirit monster, but he couldn’t make out much more. The card he needed was right there he knew it. These may not be his cards but he could still trust them to bring him to victory. 

He drew and his eyes fell on the blue-green background of a spell card. It was Super Soldier Ritual. He tossed it down on his disk. This could win him the duel. 

“I activate Super Soldier Ritual. I tribute Sphere Kuriboh and Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight from my hand to ritual summon Black Luster Soldier. That’s not all though, because I sent two cards from my hand to the graveyard. I can now activate the effect of Gateway of Chaos to bring another Gaia the Fierce Knight from the deck to my hand. I summon Gaia and use him to attack Relinquished!”

Atticus raised his eyebrow, “Pipsqueak not sure if you’re familiar with how this game is played but I activate Relinquished’s effect and destroy Valkyrian Knight.” The red armored monster let out a cry as Gaia’s javelin pierced the warrior, shattering both monsters. Relinquished’s attack dropped down to zero. 

Chazz grinned, “Thanks just what I was hoping for. Black Luster Soldier attack Relinquished!” Chazz watched in pleasure as the one-eyed monster shattered and was sent to the graveyard. Atticus’s life points dropped from 4000 to 1000. 

“Wow, kid not bad.” Atticus went to draw. 

“Wait I didn’t say I was done!” Chazz yelled, and Atticus pulled his hand away, “From my graveyard I activate Valkyrian Knight’s effect. By banishing Valkyrian Knight and one other warrior monster I can summon to the field a level 5 or higher Warrior monster from my graveyard. I choose Charging Gaia the Fierce Knight!” Chazz pulled the warrior monster from the graveyard; the card felt warm to his touch as he slapped it on his disk. Atticus’s eyes widened as he realized exactly what Chazz was doing, “Gaia attack his life points directly!” 

The older student’s life points dropped to zero and the class was silent. There was a slow clap from the back of the classroom as Professor Hayden stepped forward. He was smiling happily as he collected each of their practice decks. 

“Great duel boys.” He congratulated before turning back to address the rest of the class, “That was an excellent demonstration of how to utilize Ritual Summons to take your opponents by surprise and turn the tide of the duels. Everyone I want a two-page write-up on what other combos would have worked with each of these decks and an attached decklist for a ritual deck of your own making. Due Monday.” 

There was a groan from some of the Slifers in the back of the class, but Chazz ignored it, it seemed Atticus wasn’t the only slacker in the class. Speaking of Atticus, Chazz glanced over at his opponent expecting to see rage in the other boy's eyes at his defeat. Instead, he was met with a smile that was brighter than the sun. 

“Great duel Chazz. I had no idea you were so good. Where did you duel before?” The older boy was striding across the gymnasium floor and was clapping him happily on the back before he even had time to think. It didn’t compute. Chazz had wiped the floor with hundreds of people before, he’d seen anger, sadness, disappointment, rage, but never happiness. What was wrong with Atticus? Who was happy to be embarrassed in front of everyone? 

Zane was giving him a curious look too like he was finally seeing him for the first time. Chazz wasn’t sure what to make of it. 

“Of course,” Atticus said, winking at him, “If I was using my regular deck I would have wiped the floor with you, but that was some quick thinking with Valkyrain Knight.”

“ _ BOSS! You sure showed him!” _ Ojama Yellow said poofing into existence, “ _ Light and I watched the whole thing and I only cried once. You were so cool!” _

Chazz shrugged and hid his smile at the duel spirits antics. Ojama Yellow might be annoying but sometimes the spirit knew just what to say and it was nice to know his cards were always on his side. Besides, the humans in the room were making him anxious. He had no idea what to make of this whole situation. Atticus was supposed to be angry at him. He was supposed to be embarrassed and finally leave him alone just like the upperclassman who had bothered Alexis. 

He didn't point out to Atticus that if he had been using his regular deck he doubted Atticus could have even scratched his life points. Instead, he just scowled as the other student continued to muss up his hair. 

“You were really good Chazz.” Alexis said, a small smile on her face “I don’t think anyone but Zane and I have ever beat Atticus and you were doing it blind with a completely new deck. You have to duel me sometime!”

“Yeah… I- maybe we can do that.” Chazz stuttered out. Seriously what was up with these siblings? 

* * *

“Lexi!” Atticus said, his hair flying in every direction as he rushed into the dining hall. Somewhere along the line Atticus had discovered Alexis’s and his morning routine and decided to disturb it, or as Atticus put it, join them, as often as possible. 

“Did you hear the news!? A costume tag duel tournament! You’ve got to join me, I’ve got the best idea for what we can go as!” 

Atticus swarmed around Alexis, his mouth running a mile a minute as he waved a flier. Chazz grumbled and rubbed his head. It was too early in the morning for Atticus’s antics. He took a spoonful of eggs and added them to his plate. 

“ _ Wow Boss a tag duel! You’ve never competed in one of those before!” _ Ojama Yellow danced excitedly around his face and Chazz used his hand to gently shove him further away. He was too tired to yell at the spirit for his usual in his face dancing. 

“Yeah.” He murmured under his breath as he followed Alexis to their usual table. 

_ “We could wipe the floor with these suckers! A trap, a spell, bam, pow, Life points zero!”  _ Chazz rolled his eyes at the spirit’s confidence. It was nice but unwarranted. Tag duels were a different beast altogether from other duels. He really wasn’t keen on them.

In a tag duel, it didn’t matter how good your individual strategy or cards were if your partner couldn’t play to them. Trust and knowledge of your partner's strategies were the keys to winning. Chazz’s eyes slid around the dining hall looking at a sea of unfamiliar faces. Atticus and Alexis were about the only two people he knew at the school, sure there was Zane, but well Chazz really didn’t know what to make of the school's top student. Who would want to duel with him? 

Chazz sat down and poked non-committedly at his eggs. 

“Think of it Lexi the all-powerful Dark Magician and his partner Dark Magician Girl! It’s perfect for us. Think of the crowds, they would love it!” Atticus waved his hands around, unable to sit still as the idea of the tournament took root in his head, “All the boys would have a crush on you in that outfit!”

Alexis ignored her brother, “What are you thinking of going as Chazz?” She picked up a small fork and daintily began to nibble at the peaches on her plate. 

“Well- uh, I don’t- Idon’tknowwhotoasktobemypartner.” Chazz blushed as he stuttered out the words. 

Alexis furrowed her eyebrows, “Oh, why not? I’m sure anyone would love to partner with you. Especially after that duel a couple of weeks ago.” 

Chazz grimaced at the memory. The school rumor mill had wasted no time spreading the news of him beating Atticus around. The story got more and more outlandish every time he heard it. The older girls glared at him whenever he passed them in the hallway. He’d found all sorts of nasty notes in his locker. He’d been very careful to not mention those to anyone and especially not to Seto in their weekly check-ins. 

Alexis was the only other Obelisk Blue in their grade right now and pretty much the only other Obelisk that would talk to him besides Atticus and Zane. The rest of their grade level seemed to be scared of him. Sliders and Ras alike would slide out of his way when he walked down the hallway. It was rather lonely. He thought Duel Academy would be different from prep school. 

“Yeah, Chazzy. You’re a great duelist.” 

Chazz blushed a deeper red and glowered at Atticus, “Stop calling me that!”

Atticus grinned, “Whatever you say, little buddy.” 

Chazz scoffed and played with the napkin under the table, instead of answering. The truth was he’d heard what the other Obelisk Blue students whispered about him when they thought he couldn’t hear. That his family had just bought his way in. That he couldn’t duel. Since his win, the rumors had just morphed to how he must have cheated. Chazz should be angry, but there was a niggling voice in the back of his mind that couldn’t help but agree. He’d seen Atticus and Zane duel; they were amazing. Would he really be able to win against these older students if the circumstances were different? 

Alexis frowned at his silence and seemed to read his uncertainty, “Well whoever you ask Chazz. I’m sure you’ll do great!” 

Chazz just nodded and gloomily continued to eat away at his breakfast. Maybe Mokuba would have some advice on what to do. He was certainly easier to talk to than Seto. 

* * *

“A tag duel?” Mokuba’s muffled voice asked over the speaker, “Sounds fun. Kaiba Corp used to host those sometimes. The crowds loved the partner dynamic. Of course,” Mokuba chuckled, “Seto never participated. Can you imagine him as a partner?” 

Chazz huffed out a small laugh, “Seto’s never done a partner duel?”

“Well, yeah he has. He’s even done a triple duel before.” 

Chazz furrowed his eyebrows trying to remember a tournament that used triple duels. He’d certainly never seen a recording of Seto participating. 

“Of course those were special circumstances. There was a lot going on and this was when he was still back in high school. He and Joey even dueled together once if you can believe it. They spent most of the duel bickering like a married couple. I thought Yugi was going to kill them both before the duel was over.” 

He couldn’t stop the giggle at the mental image. Seto and Joey could barely sit and have dinner together; he couldn’t imagine how much they would trip around each other as they dueled. 

“Yeah, you think they’re bad now. They were way worse in high school. Anyway, don’t worry too much about a partner-” 

“Hey, Chazz!” Atticus yelled from the hallway pounding on the room's door. Chazz winced as he stood up. The knocking grew louder, 

“Hold on a minute Mokie,” He whispered into the receiver as he went to open the door, the phone still pressed into his ear. 

Atticus stood there grinning in a casual Hawaiian shirt with bundles of fabric shoved under his arms, “I thought we could work on our costumes!” The older student’s eyes landed on the phone, “Hey who you talking to?”

“No one!” Chazz hissed out hastily. He didn’t want anyone to know about the Kaiba’s. It was a habit from when he was a child. His family had never known when he went to visit Seto and Seto seemed keen to keep it low profile. Not to mention if anyone at Duel Academy found out then they really would think he didn’t deserve to be here. 

“Oh, I’m no one now? Harsh.” Mokuba teased into the phone. 

A sly look crossed Atticus’s face as he set down the materials and leaned an arm around Chazz’s shoulders. Chazz bristled at the touch.“Sure you don’t have a little girlfriend on the other line. You know I’m something of a love doctor.” Atticus wiggled his eyebrows. Chazz opened his mouth to call the older boy an idiot when quick as a flash Atticus snatched the phone out of his hands. 

“Hello lovely lady, Atticus Rhodes, speaking tell me everything about your blossoming romance.” 

“Hey give that back!” Chazz jumped for his phone but Atticus laughed and held it out of his reach. A look of confusion crossed Atticus’s face as Mokuba answered. Chazz couldn’t make out what he was saying, but Atticus nodded and then silently handed Chazz the phone back. 

“Sorry, Chazz I didn’t know you were talking to your brother.” 

He froze. His brother? 

His shoulders relaxed as his brain caught up. Oh, Mokuba must have covered for him. Thank god for Mokuba. Still, if Atticus had done that when one of his actual family members was on the phone, well, Chazz couldn’t repress another shiver. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t just go sticking your nose in other people’s business then!” He hissed and shoved the older boy out the door. 

“I really am sorry Chazz.”

“Well, I really don’t care.” There was real anger in his voice now. He couldn’t let the thought go. If Slade or Jagger would have been on the other line and they heard that. They might think he was goofing off. They might pull him out of Duel Academy for not taking his role seriously. He could hear their harsh whispers. 

_ Why do you think you’re there? You have one job to do. Don’t fuck it up. You won’t like what happens if you ruin this for our family. Maybe you aren’t really a Princeton?  _

“Look how about I come back later?” Atticus said softly from the other side of the door. 

“Don’t bother!” Chazz hissed as he flipped the lock. There was silence and then footsteps down the hall. He was leaving. The bundle of fabric sat forgotten beside the door. Chazz kicked it angrily scattering buttons and material in every direction. 

“Chazz?” Mokuba’s voice murmured from the speaker.

“Yeah.”

“Are you alright? That sounded intense.” 

“I’m fine.” Chazz took a calming breath, “Atticus just doesn’t know when to stop.”

“Sounds like a few other people I can think of.” Mokuba paused, “He sounds like a goofball.”

“Yeah,” Chazz rolled his eyes, “He’s worse than Joey.” 

“Not who I was thinking of,” Mokuba laughed, “Well don’t worry I think I scared him straight. I used my CEO voice.” 

“You didn't… you didn’t tell him who you were right?”

“Of course not! I know you and Seto like your privacy, but if he gives you any serious trouble let me know and I’ll come rough him up.” Mokuba’s voice was oddly sincere. 

Mokuba was missing some crucial information though, “Mokuba he’s like six feet tall.”

Mokuba scoffed, “Maybe to you, but to us normal-sized adults- 

“Hey I’m not short I’m still growing! And you don’t have any room to talk- you’re  _ still  _ only like five foot six.” 

“I resent that, just because I’m not as tall as Seto everyone thinks I’m short. I’m five-eight; a perfectly average height. Besides, if you think that will stop me from setting the kid straight you’re wrong.”

Chazz couldn’t help but giggle at the mental image. He had a hard time imagining Mokuba hitting anyone. He was way too friendly for that not to mention well he looked like a bean pole and wasn’t intimidating under the best of circumstances. 

“Are you laughing at me? You don’t think I could do it.” The playful outrage in Mokuba’s voice sent Chazz into another hiccup of laughter. “Wow, Seto is right, teenagers are the worst. I’m going to go apologize to him for everything I ever did in my teenage years.” 

Chazz wiped the gathering tears out of the corners of his eyes. His stomach hurt from laughing. He felt more relaxed than he had in a week. He really ought to call Mokuba more often. 

* * *

“Come on Chazzy! Talk to me!” 

Chazz pointedly ignored the annoying brunette as he continued to scribble notes from the lecture. They were in a study period for Summoning Evolutions and Chazz still had no plans of speaking to Atticus. He would let the older boy stew in regret longer. Maybe, maybe he would stop the silent treatment when the older boy could use his proper name for once. 

With a long sigh, Atticus finally gave up and leaned across the desk to get a look at Alexis who was quietly seated next to Chazz. She was doing her best to ignore Atticus’s distraction and finish their in-class assignment. 

“Is your Dark Magician Girl costume almost finished sissy?” Atticus asked as he lounged across the table, invading Chazz’s space. Chazz hastily pulled his notes back so they wouldn’t get crinkled as Atticus moved his arm to prop his head up. He shot a glare at the older boy. 

“Atticus I already told you I’m not going as Dark Magician Girl! That costume is way too revealing and I’m already going as Cyber Angel Idaten!” Alexis hissed not bothering to look up from her assignment. Chazz held in a groan. The siblings had been arguing about this for the better part of a week and a half. 

“But sis,” Atticus whined.

“No, I already have enough stupid boys drooling in my direction I don’t need anymore. Besides, I already picked out a partner!” She declared as she jabbed the pen down on her paper and finished the last problem with harsh intensity. 

Chazz felt his heart drop. She had? Sure, he’d been kicking his feet around, not really sure how to ask her but if she already had a partner he would just have to sit this tournament out. He was already late enough in getting started, nearly everyone that was planning to compete had already signed up. 

“Yes. Chazz!” Chazz looked at his blonde friend questioningly. What did she need? His brain took a minute to catch up as he felt his hand raise to point questioningly at himself. His eyes widened as Alexis merely grinned and nodded. 

“Isn’t that right Chazz?”

He was left looking into her deep blue eyes and his brain stopped again. He blushed and Atticus gave him a look like he’d just kicked his puppy. When had she asked him? He racked his brain going over every interaction they’d had in the last week to see what he was missing.

She nudged him under the table with her foot. Oh, oh right. She wanted him to play along. 

“Uh,” He stammered, “y-ye-yeah.” 

Atticus glanced between the two of them, giving Chazz a flat look, “No! I don’t accept this. Lexi stop using your feminine wiles on Chazz he’s too young to be immune!” 

Chazz spluttered his pen inking out a long line on his notes as it dove off the paper before he could regain his motor skills. 

“My feminine wiles!” Alexis shouted, shoving her seat out as she slammed her hands on the desk. 

“Uh, guys-” Chazz tried to intervene as every student in the class was now staring at them. 

“You are just so… so- ugh!” 

Nothing was worse than when the two siblings got into it. Chazz really didn’t want to pick a side and they both were so stubborn. Somehow both of them always ended up mad at him. Chazz slunk down further in his seat hoping to disappear. 

“Hey, Lexi I just call them as I see them. Now get serious and partner with me!”

“No! You don’t get to treat me like a doll just because I’m younger than you!” 

“I don’t treat you like a doll, but you should get on board with the best idea in the universe!” The two siblings were practically nose to nose as they yelled. Chazz was stuck seated in between the two in mortification. 

“Maybe if you went-”

“I can’t take it! Cut it out you two!” Chazz stood up between them shoving them both back. He felt his heart rate pick up. It beat across his chest. The humming under his skin intensified and he bit back a new wave of anxiety as he recognized all the signs of an oncoming panic attack. 

“Chazz?” Atticus started. Finally his real name. 

“No,” Chazz said, holding his hand up in the older boy's face as he took a stabilizing breath, “I’m not talking to idiots right now. Look all I want to do is finish class so can the two of you please cut it out.”

With a huff, he sat down and pulled his notes back towards them hunching over as the class looked on in disbelief. It was quiet for a moment. Chazz let out a sigh, maybe things could get back to normal now. Neither Atticus nor Alexis sat down and the class held its bated breath for what would happen next. 

“Let’s duel for it Sis! If I win we do the matching costumes. Dark Magician and Dark Magician girl!” 

Chazz looked over his shoulder. Why couldn’t this be over? Alexis could be his partner, it solved pretty much all of Chazz’s issues and Alexis could do what she wanted and be happy. Too bad Atticus was too stubborn to stop it now and Alexis was sadly just as headstrong when she was mad. 

“If I win I’m partnering with Chazz and you can go find someone else!” Alexis thrust her chin out as she gave her terms. 

“Deal.” Atticus said with a nod, “Duel stadium six o’clock be there.”

“You’re on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chazz is actually secretly a huge nerd and you can fight me on that! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and some Chazz and Rhodes sibling bonding.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fluffy chapter with costume making in honor of spooky October! Next chapter will kick off with the actual tag duel and some angst so buckle up and be prepared!

The siblings' duel is the talk of the campus. Chazz is shocked by how quickly the news spreads, but by 5:30 the Obelisk Stadium is already packed. Colored uniforms linger around the benches. Chazz shoves past them as he stomps down to the front row. The only space left this close to the front is right next to Atticus’s group of fangirls. He scrunches his nose up in displeasure as the girls wave their signs and coo in excitement. He really doesn’t know how Atticus handles them. 

Chazz sighs as he slides into a narrow space between the end of the bench and one of the girls. She shoots him a glare and Chazz crosses his arms and scowls back at her. The girl rolls her eyes and goes back to animatedly talking to her friends. The topic of how cute Atticus’s butt is making Chazz want to throw up. 

Thankfully there’s a loud burst from a blow horn, which works well enough to get everyone to stop their conversations and take notice of the stage. 

Atticus marches onto the stage to the roar of the school in a deep navy suit. He’s all smiles and waves as he pumps up the crowd. Alexis follows him looking determined as she stomps to her side of the field and takes a ready stance. Atticus takes him time finding his place in the arena, he blows kisses to his fans as he goes and Chazz can’t help but roll his eyes.

The duel is long and brutal. Every time that one of the siblings seems to be pulling ahead a trap card or monster effect will change the field and make it anyone’s game. Atticus is using a winged beast deck and is chaining combos Chazz has never seen before. Alexis is running her usual Cyber Angel’s deck with a few upgrades as she smashes against his defenses. 

It’s exhilarating to watch. Chazz is on the edge of his seat and he can’t help the gasps that escape his lips every time Alexis’s life points drop. 

In the end, it’s one trap card that ends the duel and Alexis is down to a hundred life points and Atticus is hanging in there with three hundred and two monsters on the field ready to attack. Alexis reveals her facedown card and that’s it, Atticus’s points drop to zero. 

The crowd is silent and Atticus has a look of disbelief on his face before a proud smile overtakes it. He pumps his fist in the air and the crowd cheers as he rushes across the field and sweeps Alexis up into a congratulatory hug. The blonde girl blushes fiercely but doesn’t swat her brother off as she beams ups at the crowd. 

Something in Chazz’s chest aches. He can never imagine a world where Slade or Jagger would do that for him. He can’t even remember the last time they’ve hugged him. No, they just loom in the background with cold looks. They must have learned it from their parents. That’s the way they were too: silent, watching, judging everything, and demanding the best. 

It didn’t matter. It’s not like hugs made you a better duelist and Alexis had just proven herself to be one of the best duelists at the academy. Together they were going to win the tag duel tournament. 

* * *

  
  


“What are you working on, Chazz?” Alexis looked up from stitching her own Cyber Angel costume and peered curiously over his shoulder. Bunched between his fingers was a silver-blue fabric from Mokuba. He’d asked the younger Kaiba if he would send him some supplies to make a costume for the tag duel. Mokuba had agreed in exchange for a promise of a picture of him wearing it at the duel. 

“A Blue Eyes.” 

Light and Darkness Dragon had been a little put out that Chazz wasn’t basing his costume on him. Chazz had argued that although the spirit was the best card a duelist could ask for, he wasn’t well known in the duel world. The dragon spirit grumbled about stupid humans but his mood lightened when Chazz said what he was planning. Light loved Blue Eyes. He had the biggest crush on the other dragon spirit, not that he would ever admit it. 

“ _ I suppose that’s a worthy costume to best our opponents in. _ ” The spirit said and that was that. 

Now that he finally had the fabric though Chazz wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. He’d stabbed himself half a dozen times trying to get the thread through the stupid needle and the few stitches he’d made were a chaotic zigzag across the material. 

“UGH, this is impossible!” Chazz said, throwing the bundle of cloth across the room. 

Alexis hummed thoughtfully, “You know we could call Atticus. He’s actually pretty good at this stuff. He’s been helping me make costumes since we were kids.”

Chazz grimaced as he nursed his bleeding fingers. Sure Atticus had been better since the whole phone call incident, but he was still… well Atticus. “Why would he want to help when we’re dueling him on Friday?” 

“Trust me he really likes this kind of thing. He’s probably making a costume for Zane just for fun. If we call him he’ll come down.” 

Chazz shrugged and glared down at the pile of fabric on the floor, “Okay, yeah call him if you want.”

“Perfect!” Alexis clapped her hands together, before pulling out her cell phone and shooting off a text. 

It couldn’t have been two minutes before someone was pounding at Alexis’s door. 

“Sissy!” Atticus was panting, a small bag clutched under his arm, “I heard you have a fashion disaster on your hands!” 

Alexis smiled and then pointed to Chazz’s fabric balled up on the floor. 

“Well, that’s uh… quite a start!” Atticus said brightly, shooting Chazz one of his patented smiles, “I can really see the influence of Monster Reborn.”

“It’s a Blue Eyes,” Chazz said, glaring at the offending costume. He shuffled his feet nervously as he scowled, “The pattern isn’t working.” 

Atticus hummed thoughtfully as he stepped closer and scooped the fabric off the floor, “Well It’ll be a great Blue Eyes. We just need to make a few adjustments! Here,” And before Chazz could even blink Atticus pulled a measuring tape out of his pocket and was whipping it around him, “12 inches here. Yes and…” He murmured making notes on a small notepad as he worked. 

Chazz sent an uncertain look to where Alexis was sitting intently focused on stitching feathers onto her costume. It seemed like she had no plans to save him from her brother’s clutches. 

Chazz felt like a doll as Atticus spun him around, poking and prodding him. Chazz didn’t even have a chance to get angry. He just felt dizzy as around and around he went. “The color and quality of this fabric is great. Where did you get it?”

“My brother got it for me.” 

“Sweet! He must really look after his Lil’ bro.” 

Chazz looked down and swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. Trying his best to not think about what Slade would say if he saw the costume, “Yeah.” He didn’t want to linger on this topic, “So why do you know how to do this?” 

“Grandma taught us both, but Lexi is really no good at sitting still.” Alexis paused on her project to scowl at her brother, “So I’m just better at it. Here hold this while I pin it.” Chazz reached out and took the hood of the Blue Eyes while Atticus pulled some pins off of a thin read pin cushion bracelet. 

“The only reason he’s better at this type of thing than me is because he loves the drama of it.” Alexis huffed, “Don’t let him fool you.”

“So harsh, sis,” Atticus said as he knotted a piece of thread, “All I’m saying is that themes and dramatic entrances are important. Some day when you go pro you’ll understand.” 

Alexis rolled her eyes again, “The only drama my fans will need from me is crushing my opponents.”

“That’s scary Lexi, what happened to my cute little sister? I hope you don’t expect to crush me and Fujiwara on Friday, that's not going to happen.”

“We’ll see, isn't that right, Chazz?” 

Chazz felt a smirk tugging at his lips, “Yeah Atticus, you’ve lost to both of us separately, what makes you think you’ll stand a chance against us together?”

“Now, Chazzy, let’s not let your ego get too big. I wasn’t using my real deck in either of those duels. Don’t think I’m going to go easy on either of you this time. I might be an awesome big bro but even I have my pride as a duelist.” 

Chazz stilled and mulled it over. The bird deck wasn’t his actual deck? Chazz never would have guessed how close the duel between Alexis and him was. What was his usual deck? Despite the older boy's general laid back attitude about everything, he was a good duelist. 

“Okay,” Atticus said stepping back and clapping, “I think that should just about do it. Time to try it on!” 

He shimmied the cloth over his head, feeling the smooth texture against his arms. It really was soft. He would have to make sure to get something nice for Mokuba to thank him. 

Chazz flipped the hood up. Atticus raised a mirror from Alexis’s nightstand. Chazz couldn’t stop the small smile that spread across his face. It was so cool! It actually did look like a Blue Eyes now. He snuggled deeper into the costume. There was a warm pulse from his deck and a prickle on the back of his neck that meant that one of his spirits was appearing. 

“ _ You look like a real hatchling.”  _ Light nodded his approval as he dipped his head down to nuzzle the costume. Chazz blushed at the attention and tried to discreetly shove the dragon monster off of him. He raised his hands and shoved the hood down only for Light unceremoniously tugged it back up. 

“ _ Come now hatchling you can’t take it off until I hear you roar. Every dragon must be able to roar, especially a little Blue Eyes.”  _ Light teased his tail rolling slowly over the floor. 

“That looks pretty good there, pipsqueak.” Atticus said, “Not real ferocious. But pretty cute”

Light made eye contact with him and nudged his tail at Atticus, “ _ Well what are you waiting for, little dragon?”  _

Chazz turned on his heel and lunged at the older boy with a roar. Atticus managed to get a half step back, but it wasn’t enough and soon he was headed for the carpeted floor with an oof. 

“Whose ferocious now?” Chazz said smugly as he sat on top of Atticus’s chest using his weight to pin the older boy. 

“Okay, okay. I give you ferocious, a really strong and terrible dragon! Let me up now Chazzy!” Atticus pleaded. Light hummed his approval at the assessment and tipped Chazz’s hood back before dissipating to wherever the spirits went when they weren’t with him. 

Alexis stepped closer, “Hold him down Chazz, he’s ticklish.” she ordered. 

“Nooo Lexi how could you betray me!” Atticus said as he bucked up and Chazz had to lean closer to not be thrown off as Alexis reached under his armpit and began to prod mercilessly. Giggles spilled out of her brother as he tried to wiggle free and catch his breath. “Lex- no- ah stop!” 

Chazz grinned as he clutched onto Atticus so he couldn’t get away, sweet revenge on the loudmouth was finally his. He knew Alexis was a good friend to have.

* * *

Kaiba’s phone buzzed in the weekly HR meeting. He rubbed his temples as the manager droned on about the updated benefits package. Honestly, Kaiba could care less as long as his employees were taken care of. He slid his finger across the touchpad to unlock and was greeted by a text from Mokuba. 

**From Mokuba:**

_ Seto!!!! You won’t believe it.  _

_ Dragonboy.jpeg _

Kaiba blinked as he got a look at the attached picture. Chazz was grinning at the camera dressed in a Blue Eyes White Dragon Costume. There were little button eyes on the hood. Chazz had it pulled over his head, his dark hair peeking out from underneath. He had his duel disk on his arm and a blonde girl had her arm thrown around his shoulder. She was dressed in a deep blue tunic with a silver wig and a pair of metallic wings coming out of her back. 

It was some sort of monster but Kaiba didn’t know the classification off the top of his head. Pegasus was putting out new cards like the mad man he was and Kaiba hadn’t had a chance to catch up on the newest catalog. 

Kaiba saved the photo to his phone and then texted back. 

**From Seto:**

_ Did you blackmail him? _

It took a few minutes but Mokuba shot back a reply. Kaiba pretended to be busy checking his email while he waited. 

**From Mokuba:**

_ Big Bro would I do that??  _

Kaiba smirked, his little brother absolutely would. 

**From Seto:**

_ … _

**From Mokuba:**

_ Wow, vote of confidence but nope, it was 100% voluntary. Guess he took after your Blue Eyes obsession too. Still, in about 5 years, this will be great blackmail material thanks for the idea >:) _

Kaiba winced. Chazz probably wasn’t going to be very happy about that. Mokuba would probably make ten-foot posters and show it at his graduation from Duel Academy. Well, as long as Chazz never found out it was Seto that encouraged him it should be fine. In the meantime, Kaiba smiled down at the new photo while the dull meeting droned on. Duel Academy was definitely the right call. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The costume tournament is finally upon duel academy. Duels are had and trouble is brewing!

”Lexi, Chazzy smile for the camera!” Atticus called happily as he snapped the picture. Alexis was beside him decked out in her Cyber Angel costume. It was extremely well done. She’d managed to even find pieces of mirror to glue onto her wings that had a stunning effect. It looked like she’d stepped right out of the card. 

Chazz looked down at his own Blue Eyes costume. Sure it was good, a lot better than it would have been without Atticus’s help, but it wasn’t realistic. He looked more like a Blue Eyes Toon Dragon than he did the genuine card. He shuffled his feet and tugged the hood further down on his head.

_ “Stop worrying boss. You look great! So smile for the camera!”  _ The shrill voice of Ojama Yellow floats up from beside him. The little duel spirit has been looking forward to this day all week, he wouldn’t stop pestering him all through class. The last two days it’d taken everything in Chazz to not burst out into a shouting match in deck building 101. 

Chazz tugged his lips up into something he hoped both Atticus and the little yellow goblin would think was close enough to a smile.

Atticus looked down at his camera and gave them a thumbs-up, “Looks great! It’s one for the scrapbook.” 

Alexis laughed and even Chazz couldn’t stop the good-natured huff that escaped him. Atticus despite being a loudmouth was really growing on him. He snapped a few more pictures and gushed about how cute they both were before he gave them a happy little wave and scampered off to find his tag partner. Who the other student was was a mystery to both him and Alexis. Atticus had kept his lips tightly closed about the whole situation. Telling them both, that he needed to ‘keep them on their toes.’ It wasn't Zane. He knew that for sure. Zane was seated up on the stadium bleachers, his face impassive as usual, but his blue hair unmistakable. 

“You ready?” Alexis asked, giving him a nervous smile as she rocked back and forth, her wings shimmering in the hallway lights. 

Chazz checked his duel disk and double-checked that his deck case was still in his pocket. He gave her a firm nod, “Let’s do this.” With that, he marched out into the rumbling stadium. 

The bleachers were filled. A few students had come in costume, but most hadn’t bothered. The yellow uniforms of the Ras were sprinkled in between the white and blue uniforms of the Obelisks and the obnoxiously red Slifer uniforms. Even the teachers were present, though they were seated in their own section away from the rest of the Duel Academy students. 

Chazz hadn’t seen so many people since his junior tournament days before prep school. He felt the familiar tendrils of panic clawing at his stomach. He ruthlessly shoved them down. There was no time for that. He was here to prove he was the best.

Across the field, Atticus stood in his impeccable Dark Magician Costume. He even had on a deep indigo wig to complete the outfit. Next to him was a student that looked vaguely familiar. It was difficult to tell who exactly was under the Magician of Black Chaos costume but whoever it was he looked vaguely uncomfortable next to Atticus and his easy smile. 

“Welcome duelists one and all to our first ever costume tag duel!” Chancellor Shepard’s voice echoed across the room, “Up first is the very exciting duel between one of our resident champs Atticus Rhodes and his partner Yusuke Fujiwara versus our two newest rising star freshmen Alexis Rhodes and Chazz Princeton! It’s sure to be a tension-filled match, sibling versus sibling. Who will win?” 

Chazz scoffed at the introduction. Clearly, Sheppard had watched too many Kaiba Corp sponsored tournaments and thought he was Seto. Except he had none of the gravitas Seto and Mokuba had as hosts. Really, where was the drama? He should have drawn it out. 

With a flick of his wrist, Chazz activates his duel disk and slides his cards in. He hasn’t actually dueled with his deck at the Academy yet. Even when he took the entrance exam he used a loaner. If all those junior tournaments had taught him anything it was that some duelists were cutthroat and would use anything to their advantage. It was best to keep your cards close to your heart. 

Speaking of close to his heart, Ojama Yellow is tucked into his coat, close enough that he can see the action, but far enough from his deck that Chazz will never have to play him. Chazz still hasn’t found a good way to incorporate the little monster into his dragon deck. Still Ojama Yellow likes to feel like a part of the team and Chazz doesn’t like to let him down. The monster is Chazz’s first and biggest fan after all. 

Alexis steps closer to him and the crowd cheers as Chancellor Sheppard calls for them to begin the duel. 

Atticus starts them off. He places two cards face down in the spell card area and sets a monster in facedown defense position before ending their turn. He shoots Chazz a smirk as he waves his staff at the audience with gusto. Their cheers echo around the stadium and make Chazz wish he could bury his head in the sand. 

Chazz looks over his hand. It’s not a bad starting hand; he has a couple of magic cards that will be useful in the upcoming turns. He sets a masked dragon facedown. It was better to play it safe and set up his long term game. He sets a Countergate trap card face down and ends his turn. 

The duel shifts over Fujiwara. Something about the other duelist makes Chazz’s skin crawl. He can’t place the unease as he watches him summon a Newdoria monster and attack his facedown monster. Masked Dragon dissipates from the attack and Chazz summons an Armed Dragon Lvl 3 in its place. Perfect if Alexis can keep his dragon on his field until the next turn, Chazz can upgrade him. He activates a continuous trap card Chazz isn’t familiar with and sends two cards to the graveyard before drawing two more. 

Light appears over Chazz’s shoulder and growls, low and dangerous in a way he’s never done before. Chazz tears his eyes off their opponents to glance behind him. Light is there hovering protectively, as faded as he usually looks. He’s acting off, but Chazz can’t stare into ‘open’ air with so many eyes on him. 

“ _ I don’t like him. Be careful he smells of shadows. _ ” Are Light’s words as he doesn’t budge from his spot. 

Shadows? Chazz wants to ask more but with so many Academy students staring at him, he doesn’t dare say anything. Light flexes his wings back and looms over the field. It’s reassuring and Chazz takes a step back closer to his duel spirit. Whatever it is he’ll deal with it later it’s Alexis’s turn. 

His partner activates a field spell and manages to ritual summon one of her Cyber Angels and equip her with a spell card before the monster darts across the field and shatter’s Fujiawara’s monster. The red counters of their opponent's life points drop by a thousand. Alexis gives him a thumbs up that he can’t help returning. Alexis really was a great duelist. He was glad he wasn’t going head to head with her. She ends their turn with a flourish and Atticus grins. 

“Nice try Sissy but you went after the wrong card.” Atticus flexes his fingers, and his facedown monster appears, the Black Stone of Legend. Chazz squints at it. He’s never seen this particular card before, but it can’t be anything good from Alexis’s quiet cursing. The card has zero attack and defense so it must be its effect that makes it dangerous. 

“I sacrifice the Black Stone of Legend.” Atticus calls and Chazz waits with bated breath as Atticus’s duel disk offers up a card from his deck. With lazy grace, he plops a card on his duel disk. A familiar black scaled dragon bursts forth onto the field. 

It's a Red Eyes an honest to god Red Eyes. Chazz didn’t know anyone that still used the card in the dueling circuit. It was such a rare card the only people he knew that had them were Joey and Seto of course. But here was Atticus Rhodes with not just a Red Eyes but a Red Eyes centered deck. 

“You're not the only one that can use dragons Chazzy!” Atticus calls with a wink, “Now Red Eyes attack Armed Dragon Lvl. 3.” Their life points drop down to 2800 and Chazz is still reeling. Of all the possibilities he never imagined Red Eyes. 

There’s a familiar warm tingle as he draws. Without even looking down he knows exactly which card he’s holding and that makes his strategy for this turn easy. 

“Light are you ready?” Chazz murmurs, the dragon lets out a growl of agreement from behind him. In order to summon the monster, he’ll have to sacrifice a light and dark type monster. He hopes Alexis won’t be too mad about him removing her cyber angel from the field. As for the dark type monster… his eyes land on Atticus’s Red Eyes. 

“I summon Armed Dragon Lvl 3.” Chazz drops his dragon onto the field, “Next I activate the enemy controller, by sacrificing Armed Dragon Lvl. 3 I take control of your Red Eyes Black Dragon.” Atticus’s eyes widen as Fujiwara’s narrows. It looks downright sinister in his Chaos Magician makeup, “Now I activate the Spell card Ressurection of the Winged Dragon. This card lets me sacrifice two monsters to special summon Light and Darkness Dragon!”

A hush falls over the crowd as the black and white dragon rises with a roar. Even Alexis is quiet in the face of the loss of her Cyber Angel. The dragon’s one angelic and one demonic wing beat sending wind that makes Alexis’s hair flutter. 

Chazz grins as his uniform coat flares behind him. He feels powerful and in control with his trusted spirits at his side, “Light, attack their life points directly.” 

“Not too bad, pipsqueak, but too soon. I activate my trap card Countergate!” Chazz grimaces as the attack falls uselessly and Atticus draws a card and summons a black eyes baby dragon to the field, “Fujiwara you know what to do next.” Atticus says with an easy grin to his partner. 

Alexis frowns and clutches her cards tighter. Chazz narrows as Atticus’s quiet partner draws. “I summon Spellcaster of Lost Causes and activate its effect. By removing two monsters from play I can destroy one monster on the field and I choose Light and Darkness Dragon.” 

“I activate my trap card monster cancellation-” Chazz starts, he’s not about to give Light up without a fight. 

“I activate trap jammer!” Fujiwara calls knocking his trap card aside with ease and Chazz watches with a grimace as Light is sent to the graveyard, “Then I activate the card my partner so thoughtfully left for me: Return of Red Eyes! Now let’s bring a familiar face back to the field!” 

The crowd roars in approval as Red Eyes appears back into the duel. Chazz stares at the two monsters to their empty field. He prays Alexis has something up her sleeve because he has nothing. He put all his fight into summoning Light. 

“Now,” Fujiwara calls, “I equip Red Eyes with Lucky Iron Axe to boost its attack points by 500. Red Eyes attack their life points directly.” 

Chazz looks desperately to Alexis...who does nothing. Their life points drop to zero and the stadium cheers. 

“There we have it!” Chancellor Sheppard announces happily, with that action-packed duel we finally have a winner. Atticus Rhodes and Yusuke Fujiwara will be advancing to the next round of the tournament. Get ready for an action-packed day and don’t forget about the tournament banquet later!” 

“We...we lost,” Chazz says weakly his head is spinning as he glances down at his duel disk again just to confirm the counter really is at zero. He can’t believe it. He’s never lost before. He’s Chazz Princeton he doesn’t lose! He can’t lose. 

“Yeah, that happens sometimes,” Alexis says with a sigh, “More times than I’d like to count when it comes to Atticus don’t feel bad. His Red Eyes deck is really something else. We just got unlucky with the draws.“ 

Chazz opens and closes his mouth and he wants to say something. He wants to berate her for not taking this as seriously as she should. Doesn’t she understand? They just lost in front of everything. They were out of the tournament in the first round. The first round! 

Alexis is already across the field hugging and congratulating her brother and Fujiwara though, so instead Chazz skulks towards the exit. They probably won’t even notice he’s gone. 

He needs time. It’s bad enough he’ll be expected as a participant to show up at the victory banquet later and act like he’s happy that Atticus won. Maybe he can fake an illness. No, as much as he wants to he has to go, he's a Princeton he has to make it seem like this- this loss means nothing to him. 

* * *

The banquet was fine. Atticus and Fujiwara as the champions were set at the head of the table surrounded by other students congratulating them and laughing at their anecdotes. Alexis was seated next to her brother and had an easy smile on her face as she watched his antics. Zane was on the other side of Fujiwara and he looked as bored as ever. Chazz couldn’t help but for once agree with the Academy’s top student. 

Chazz was on the far end of the banquet table trying to avoid Alexis’s questioning looks and Atticus’s eyes. There were so many people it wasn’t too hard, and while no one seemed to spare him a second glance the Rhode siblings were in high demand. Every time it looked like Atticus was about to fight his way down to Chazz’s side of the table someone would interrupt him and demand his attention. It was perfect. 

Chazz slid into one of the empty seats at the end of the table feeling miserable. To his left were a handful of Obelisk Blue Students he didn’t know. From their white and blue uniforms, they had to be second years though. He ignored them and poked at his pasta. 

Sure, the food was good, but that was to be expected of an Academy that catered to so many rich students and donors. If the food was bad that would be the real scandal. Unlike the cocktail parties, Chazz had attended since the day he could walk there was no alcohol here, but that didn’t stop the rambunxious energy that seemed to have taken over the school. Laughter and chatter echoed around the hall. He didn’t feel much like celebrating. 

Chazz sighed and leaned down in his seat. His eyes moved to the clock. It was 8 p.m. he just needed to make his presence known for another hour and then he could head to bed and lick his wounds. He had no doubt there would be a voicemail from Slade waiting for him. His family had eyes everywhere. 

“It’s not like Seto Kaiba is even that good of a duelist!” 

Chazz’s ears perk up at the mention of Seto’s name as he follows the voice until his eyes landed on the same group of second years from earlier. A boy with cropped blond hair, and thick eyebrows is running his mouth, “He’s a has-been that could never take the title in his prime. I don’t even know why we bother studying a has-been like him.”

“Take it back,” Chazz growls across the banquet table. He may have lost face today in front of the school in front of everyone. But he’s not about to let some lowlife loser bad mouth Seto in his presence, especially some pricks that weren’t even a hundredth of the duelist he was. He fisted his hand in his lap.

“What are you some kind of Kaiba fanboy?” The blond boy asked, cocking his head to the side. The short brown-haired kid to his left chortled, like being a Kaiba fan was some sort of insult. 

“No!” Chazz glared his eyebrows dipping in anger. He could feel his temper licking at his belly. He grits his teeth. 

“He is, Cas,” The brown-haired lackey added, “He even went as a Blue Eyes to that tag duel where Alexis Rhodes carried his ass. The little geek is an absolute fanboy.” 

Chazz slammed his fork down. He went as Blue Eyes because That was because she was a gorgeous dragon that loved to chew on his hair and play-fight with Light when they were home. Anyone that didn’t respect Blue Eyes was an idiot. Chazz’s eyes narrowed. Light let out a low growl under his breath, he was practically hissing sparks. If the duel spirit was solid Chazz was sure he would be chewing on the other students by now. It was a nice mental image. 

Chazz smirked, puffing his chest out in a swagger like Seto did before he went and raked someone over the coals, “If you think you're such hot stuff why don’t we settle it in the arena. That is if you aren’t too scared of losing to a  _ Kaiba fanboy _ .” 

* * *

  
  


The duel was over; his opponent’s life points hit zero. It had barely taken five turns. It honestly hadn’t even been a challenge. Chazz had taken the older student down in a particularly cruel fashion not even giving the boy a chance to summon a monster before he chewed through his life points with extreme prejudice. It felt good. It helped to smooth over his loss to Atticus and Fujiwara earlier. 

Chazz smirked, as he deactivated his duel disk, “You losers couldn’t even take on my dragons. Blue Eyes would fry you and eat you for dinner.” 

The other boy’s face contorted in anger. His hands balled into fists as he glared across the stadium, “We all know you’re just a cheat. Your rich boy family bought you the best cards and that’s the only reason you win! Who the fuck has even heard of Light and Darkness Dragon before. I bet you bought it from some counterfeiter to little cheat.” 

His opponent stalked across the field and grabbed him by the front of his uniform jacket and yanked him upwards. Chazz had never noticed how much bigger the other boy was until he was swinging uselessly in the air. His hands came ups scrambling as they clawed at the other’s grip.

“Let go of me!” Chazz demanded.

“You’ve been way too big for your britches since the start of the year. Ever since you beat Atticus in Summoning Evolutions you walk around like you own the place. I’ve been waiting for a chance to knock you down to size. You little brat.” 

“Well you had your chance and you blew it, you third rate duelist!” Chazz snapped out, Seto’s familiar insult coming easily as he tried to puff himself up. What was an idiot like this even doing at Duel Academy? His cards were fine, his loss was a hundred percent user error and stupidity. 

“Shut up you fucking brat!” Chazz’s eyes widened as the fist flew at his face. His cards scattered to the floor. Light roared. Pain blossomed against Chazz’s temple. His head snapped to the side, he could feel his eye swelling by the second. The older student wasn’t done as another stinging pain cracked across his temple. Stars appeared in his eyes and he stilled. This was wrong. 

An icy jolt of fear leaps down his spine. No one knows he’s here. They’re all still at the banquet and he’s alone. 

His fingers fumble uselessly at the hand holding him up once again, tugging at the fabric. Chazz was such an idiot he doesn’t even know these two’s full names. He didn’t know anything about them. He could feel the other boy's foul breath across his face as he panted in anger. 

“Stop squirming you little dick. You don’t have any smart words now do you!?” The older student shakes him viciously. The dizziness comes quickly and the room seems to be spinning around him. Chazz tries to open his mouth to tell him to stop, to say anything, but the words won’t come. Panic wells up in his chest and his chest constricts to fast. He can feel his pulse pounding in his head. The other student’s right he doesn’t have anything to say, he can’t seem to find the words. 

“Hey, Cas,” Someone said, Chazz blinked blearily over, trying to get the black spots out of his non-swollen eye. He could feel something warm dribbling down his lip. He ran his tongue over it, huh, it tasted salty. He could hear Light roaring, but if it was words Chazz couldn’t place them. 

“Cas, I think that might be… I mean, don’t you think that’s enough?” the voice calls. 

“What Jack?” Chazz falls with an oof as the hand holding him up finally releases him. He rolls up into a sitting position and scoots away from the older boys as fast as he can. “You think this little shithead learned his lesson?”

“I mean he-”

Chazz glares at the blurry Obelisk Blue. All he can make out is the color of the fabric and the faint yellow of his hair. His hands are shaking as they slid across his fallen cards. He can tell Light is right behind him and he slides closer. It’s a familiar habit, reaching for Light was like reaching for a familiar blanket, reassuring. But, even the dragon wouldn’t be able to help him now. It’s not like the duel spirit will be able to do anything to humans. 

“Sure doesn’t look like the rich brats learned anything. Look at how he’s looking at us. Like he thinks he’s better!” There are heavy footfalls as Cas steps forward. Chazz flinches back. 

A harsh kick catches him in the side. Chazz’s head cracks back against the stadium floor. The motion has him gasping for air. It feels like someone is squeezing his lungs. His hands flail around him trying to find purchase somewhere, to do something. He can’t think! The panic and pain are drowning him from the inside. 

He’s scared. 

He’s so scared. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen. He was supposed to teach them a painful lesson about running their mouths to their betters and restore some of his lost pride. This scenario here never should have happened. 

“St-stay away from me.” His tongue is lead in his mouth as he forces something out past his racing heart. 

There’s a harsh laugh over him, “Look he’s a little slow but he can learn. Come on Jack I think he can deal with one more lesson!” 

Chazz pushes back further only for his back to meet something solid. The wall. His eyes widen in alarm. There’s nowhere else he can go!

A jolt of electricity shoots up his arm. His cards! The few cards he managed to pick up off the floor. They feel like they’re on fire. They’re angry. They want something from him. The spirits sound muffled; he can’t hear their voices over his own fear. 

The cruel laughter draws nearer. 

“Just stay away!” The burning sensation runs up his arm. He hisses in pain as he throws his hands in front of him to protect his face. 

The wind began to flutter around them. It tugs at his bangs. Wait- the wind? All he can see is the massive white scaled body of Light crouched in front of him, flaring his black and white wings. Light is there. The wave of relief hits him like a tsunami. The adrenaline crashes down on him. Light won’t leave him, they’re partners. 

“What’s the fuck-?” Cas screeches. Chazz can barely hear it over the wind and Light’s angry howls. The world is spinning around Chazz again. It feels like someone took a syringe and sucked all the energy from him. His vision greys around him. He can’t see the other boy, all he can see is his duel spirit. Good if he’s going to get hurt at least he won’t have to see it coming. 

He hopes that when this is all over someone finds him quickly. He’s pretty sure he has a concussion. Chazz slumps back bonelessly, all he can think as his eyes roll back into darkness is Light will be here when he wakes up.

* * *

Chazz’s head is killing him, he wobbles to his feet and the world flips on him. Bile rises in his throat from the sudden motion and he struggles to gag it back down. What happened? 

He steadies himself against the wall and takes in the carnage. 

He tries to focus, around him the stadium is a disaster. The two bullies are collapsed on the far wall, large indents mark the impact. He freezes. Are they dead? 

He can see red smeared across the wall from here. It looked like something threw them across the room. Their duel disks are smoking wrecks in front of them. Something clawed them off and then stomped them repeatedly. 

Chazz takes a tentative step forward, hissing in pain from the way it jostles his abdomen. He limps towards the two students, his hand traces along the wall keeping him upright. As he gets closer he can see the faint rise and fall of their chests. They aren’t unharmed though. There are deep scratches running along their arms and down their chests. It looks grizzly. Their Blue uniforms are stained a dark ruddy brown from the blood. Chazz’s breath catches in his throat. What could cause damage like this? 

The walls are marked with slashes that cut through the concrete, revealing the iron rebar underneath. Chazz clutches his side as he steadies on his feet and takes an agonizing step forward to his own fallen deck. He needs to get it and get out of here. No one can know he was here.

He bends down and scoops up his cards, fighting to keep his dinner down as he stands back up. He hopes this is all of them. He tries to count, but he can’t seem to get past five. Then he limps towards the door. He thinks about just leaving it all like that, leaving the bullies to fate, but he can’t. Despite everything, he can’t get the blood out of his mind and he can’t leave them like that. 

He may not know exactly what happened, but the claw marks definitely seem duel monster related and the only one he knows that interacts oddly with duel monsters is him. He was the freak that could see them. No one can know what happened here, if they did he’ll be expelled or worse- if Seto finds out he did something and almost killed two people- Chazz feels the panic rise again. 

No. He cuts the thought off. No one would find out. 

Chazz limps back to the two boys digging around their pockets to find their Duel Academy P.A.s before quickly hitting the emergency signal on both of them and dropping them back into each of the students' pockets. Then he makes for the exit as fast as his body will let him. 

* * *

“Chazzy!” Atticus's familiar voice called. Chazz ducked his head down low and pretended not to hear him as he made a beeline for his room. If he could just get inside then Atticus wouldn’t see. 

A hand fell on his shoulder and Chazz flinched back, ducking lower as he avoided looking back, “Hey Chazz, did you hea-” Atticus scampered in front of him a smile on his lips. When Chazz looked up his usual jovial face morphed into something darker. 

“Chazz, what happened?” It wasn’t Atticus that asked though it was Zane. Chazz hadn’t even noticed him standing beside Atticus. 

Chazz felt tears gather in his eyes. All he could think was that Slade was going to kill him. 

“Come on we’re going to Crowler,” Atticus growled out taking hold of his arm as he tugged him forward. Chazz swayed on his feet, struggling to keep his balance at the sudden motion. 

Chazz tried to protest but with Zane on one side and Atticus on the other, he was practically frog-marched to the Obelisk Dorm head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So wow, this one was a bit of a long one huh? Honestly, it took a slightly different direction than expected but I've always been fascinated with the way 5ds played with Akiza and her skills as a psychic duelist so here you have me playing with those concepts and ideas in GX and no one can stop me! Thank you everyone for all your support I love reading your comments and appreciate the support! Don't know if I've mentioned it but I have a tumble under Souless_Robot and you can find me there! I mostly reblog Yugioh and ATLA stuff but feel free to hit me up there and see all that plus updates when they finally come! Anyways let me know what you guys thought and next time entering the scene we have everyone's favorite Duel Academy Dad Crowler!


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